From leighvalleylive.com
Pennsbury's contract is up next year. Was the strike the last time worth it?
Morrisville's is up in a few years. Is there anyone who thinks the teachers would willingly go along with the Emperor's farm plan? Think about this last line from the article, "...historically PSEA is a very active association that bargains hard with school boards..." Would you willingly sign a contract that eliminated the jobs of more than one third of your co-workers?
Teacher strikes likely to stay in Pennsylvania
Little appetite in Harrisburg for changing law. State among few that allows walkouts.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
By SARA K. SATULLO
The Express-Times
Every time a Pennsylvania school district goes on strike, Harrisburg takes notice.
Eyes are on the Saucon Valley School District this month as its more than 180 teachers head into their second week of picketing -- exercising a right enjoyed by teachers in only 12 other states.
But it is doubtful the renewed attention will result in any major overhauls to Act 88, the 16-year-old law that governs teachers' strikes. Pennsylvania is a union state where collective bargaining is often considered an ingrained right.
"Historically, there's been no appetite on the part of the Legislature -- Republicans or Democrats -- or any governor to take away the right to strike," said former state Rep. Ron Cowell, who is now president of The Education Policy and Leadership Center, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization.
Lawmakers sound off
While there isn't support among Lehigh Valley state lawmakers to ban strikes outright or change the law, many warned that shifts in public opinion force change.
State Rep. Karen Beyer, R-Lehigh/Northampton, a district resident and former school board president, calls herself a champion for teachers and education. But she says the strike leaves her scratching her head since the 4.7 percent salary raise offer is so generous.
"Saucon Valley teachers are making it increasingly difficult for legislators who have been supportive of their ability to strike to continue to be supportive," Beyer said.
State Rep. Doug Reichley, R-Lehigh, is looking at modifying bargaining with secret ballots for teacher strike votes and presentations of offers to a quorum of teachers before a strike vote.
The Pennsylvania State Education Association opposes revising Act 88, although it admits it has its flaws.
"We just think there is the potential to make it worse," PSEA spokesman Wythe Keever said. "We think striking should be a last option but we think it should be a legal last option."
One of the hottest issues on the bargaining table leading to recent strikes has been health insurance contributions.
On Monday, the state House is expected to consider creating a commission that would look at putting all public school employees into a state benefits program, something the PSEA supports.
When unions resist making health insurance contributions, as most taxpayers do, they often lose public support if negotiation details are released, says the Pennsylvania School Board Association.
"(Employee contributions) are happening in every other place of employment, so it just seems very equitable to the public," said PSBA director of school personnel services Tom Templeton. "That is the constant drum beat."
Teachers' strike history
Nationally, teachers' strikes are less than half a century old; the first one took place in New York City in 1960. Pennsylvania teachers earned the right to strike in 1970. New Jersey teachers aren't allowed to strike.
From 1970 to 1991, Pennsylvania saw 775 strikes, according to the PSBA, many of which happened with little notice and for long periods. Act 88 was passed in 1992 in an attempt to preserve the right to strike with limits. Under the act, teachers unions must give 48 hours notice of a strike, and it spells out deadlines if the two sides aren't voluntarily negotiating.
It also gives the state power to step in if the strike is jeopardizing the 180-day school year ending June 30.
Saucon Valley teachers may strike until Oct. 17, when they must enter nonbinding arbitration, according to the law. If either side rejects the arbitrator's recommendation, they can strike again until they hit the point they jeopardize the 180-day calendar.
In the years since Act 88, rumblings about revamping it or even banning strikes have been frequent in Harrisburg, politicians and education officials say. But few gain momentum, Cowell said.
Despite the passage of Act 88, Pennsylvania is still the leader among states that allow teachers to strike.
From 2000 to 2007, 137 strikes occurred, 82 of which were in Pennsylvania, according to a 2007 Allegheny Institute for Public Policy study of teacher strikes. The institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan education research group.
Those numbers can be misleading, warned Keever, the PSEA spokesman. Hawaii has the right to strike but it is one statewide district. Pennsylvania has 600-plus local districts, with about 200 bargaining each year and an average of 10 strikes a year, he said.
The state school board association acknowledges since 1992 there's been a measurable decline in teachers' strikes.
But historically PSEA is a very active association that bargains hard with school boards, which are trying to balance the needs of employees, taxpayers and students.
"All of that mixed together can still cause work stoppages," Templeton said.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Philadelphia Magazine Top 50 Philly School Districts. Guess Who's on the List :)
From the BCCT this morning. Here's a link to the article and the PDF of the districts.
We're in at 68. A very solid performance. Kudos to Dr. Yonson, the administration and staff, and especially the students. Despite the efforts of the Stop the School controlled Board of Education to paint you as such, you are not idiotic, incompetent, inept, or downright moronic.
Will the Emperor or any of his court of toadies have the decency or guts to recognize this publicly? Nah...they'll be too busy with their agenda of destruction and dismemberment.
Philadelphia Magazine’s recently published 2008 list of the top 50 public school districts in the eight-county Philadelphia area ranked 27 of Bucks and Montgomery counties’ schools among the best.
Besides schools in Chester, Montgomery and Delaware counties, the following Bucks districts were also rated amongst the highest: New Hope-Solebury (7); Central Bucks (10); Hatboro-Horsham (14); Council Rock (15); North Penn (21); Quakertown (37); Palisades (38); Pennsbury (39); Souderton (40); Pennridge (43); Neshaminy (44); Centennial (46) and Upper Moreland (49).
Also included in the top 100 were: Bensalem (64); Morrisville (68); Bristol Borough (78); and Bristol Township (83).
The schools were ranked based on district-wide comparisons of reading and math test scores, SAT scores, student-faculty ratios, graduation rates, and enrollment in two and four-year colleges.
We're in at 68. A very solid performance. Kudos to Dr. Yonson, the administration and staff, and especially the students. Despite the efforts of the Stop the School controlled Board of Education to paint you as such, you are not idiotic, incompetent, inept, or downright moronic.
Will the Emperor or any of his court of toadies have the decency or guts to recognize this publicly? Nah...they'll be too busy with their agenda of destruction and dismemberment.
Philadelphia Magazine’s recently published 2008 list of the top 50 public school districts in the eight-county Philadelphia area ranked 27 of Bucks and Montgomery counties’ schools among the best.
Besides schools in Chester, Montgomery and Delaware counties, the following Bucks districts were also rated amongst the highest: New Hope-Solebury (7); Central Bucks (10); Hatboro-Horsham (14); Council Rock (15); North Penn (21); Quakertown (37); Palisades (38); Pennsbury (39); Souderton (40); Pennridge (43); Neshaminy (44); Centennial (46) and Upper Moreland (49).
Also included in the top 100 were: Bensalem (64); Morrisville (68); Bristol Borough (78); and Bristol Township (83).
The schools were ranked based on district-wide comparisons of reading and math test scores, SAT scores, student-faculty ratios, graduation rates, and enrollment in two and four-year colleges.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Meet the New Boss: Same as the Old Boss
From the BCCT. Now it begins to make sense why the Emperor wants to merge with Pennsbury.
He would feel right at home.
Free pass: Pennsbury officials answer to no one
By JONATHAN SHAIN
The Pennsbury school board recently held its first regular meeting of the new 2008-09 school year. As usual, the meeting was held at 8 p.m. in the gym of the Fallsington Elementary School. And, sadly, as usual, I was surrounded by a sea of empty folding chairs. In fact, the five or so residents who bothered to attend were easily outnumbered by members of the school board and the administration.
True, there were no major controversies on the agenda for last Thursday’s board meeting; no teacher strikes, no elimination of full-day kindergarten, and nothing else to arouse the community. But, do not be fooled into thinking that the actions taken by our school board only matter when a strike is in progress or a cherished educational program is at risk.
For example, at last week’s board meeting, the administration presented its goals for the coming school year. Among the goals was the negotiation of a new contract next year with the Pennsbury Education Association, the teachers union. How does the administration plan to conduct the negotiations? How will they work to avoid another strike? What are the financial limitations that will inform their bargaining with the PEA? Who will represent the district in the negotiations and how much will he be paid?
These are all questions that could and should have been put to the board and the administration, but without public attendance at the board meeting, the board and the administration were left to their own devices. I, for one, do not want to get the answers to these questions after a strike starts.
Similarly, with virtually no community members in attendance, the board held a last-minute “special” meeting in August and decided to spend more than $20,000 on a “public opinion survey.” This is the same board that consistently claims Pennsbury cannot afford the equipment needed to broadcast board meetings on cable TV, but yet somehow managed to find enough money to fund an opinion survey.
No doubt some members of the community might have challenged the wisdom of spending money on a survey when there are so many other pressing priorities — if anyone had shown up either that night, or at the recent board meeting.
A final example: Pennsbury spends tens of thousands of dollars a year (if not more) on tuition payments for special needs and other children who are educated at taxpayer expense at private schools in the area. These payments are routinely approved at almost every board meeting. These payments are not publicized, and are only listed in the agenda packets handed out at board meetings. Yes, students and parents have a right to confidentiality, but the community has a right to receive considerably more information about where and why these payments are made, and the standards that are utilized to evaluate the propriety of these payments in a manner that will not violate the privacy or confidentiality rights of students.
Yet again, without community participation at board meetings, the hard questions are never put to the board or the administration, and the payments are always approved without comment.
The unresponsiveness of the Pennsbury school board and the administration have, unfortunately, led most folks simply to throw up their hands and give up, believing that nothing they can say or do at a board meeting will make a difference. I understand that feeling, and I share the frustration.
But, I know that change can only occur if more people get involved, come to board meetings, fill up those empty folding chairs and force the decisions of the board and the administration out into the sunlight.
He would feel right at home.
Free pass: Pennsbury officials answer to no one
By JONATHAN SHAIN
The Pennsbury school board recently held its first regular meeting of the new 2008-09 school year. As usual, the meeting was held at 8 p.m. in the gym of the Fallsington Elementary School. And, sadly, as usual, I was surrounded by a sea of empty folding chairs. In fact, the five or so residents who bothered to attend were easily outnumbered by members of the school board and the administration.
True, there were no major controversies on the agenda for last Thursday’s board meeting; no teacher strikes, no elimination of full-day kindergarten, and nothing else to arouse the community. But, do not be fooled into thinking that the actions taken by our school board only matter when a strike is in progress or a cherished educational program is at risk.
For example, at last week’s board meeting, the administration presented its goals for the coming school year. Among the goals was the negotiation of a new contract next year with the Pennsbury Education Association, the teachers union. How does the administration plan to conduct the negotiations? How will they work to avoid another strike? What are the financial limitations that will inform their bargaining with the PEA? Who will represent the district in the negotiations and how much will he be paid?
These are all questions that could and should have been put to the board and the administration, but without public attendance at the board meeting, the board and the administration were left to their own devices. I, for one, do not want to get the answers to these questions after a strike starts.
Similarly, with virtually no community members in attendance, the board held a last-minute “special” meeting in August and decided to spend more than $20,000 on a “public opinion survey.” This is the same board that consistently claims Pennsbury cannot afford the equipment needed to broadcast board meetings on cable TV, but yet somehow managed to find enough money to fund an opinion survey.
No doubt some members of the community might have challenged the wisdom of spending money on a survey when there are so many other pressing priorities — if anyone had shown up either that night, or at the recent board meeting.
A final example: Pennsbury spends tens of thousands of dollars a year (if not more) on tuition payments for special needs and other children who are educated at taxpayer expense at private schools in the area. These payments are routinely approved at almost every board meeting. These payments are not publicized, and are only listed in the agenda packets handed out at board meetings. Yes, students and parents have a right to confidentiality, but the community has a right to receive considerably more information about where and why these payments are made, and the standards that are utilized to evaluate the propriety of these payments in a manner that will not violate the privacy or confidentiality rights of students.
Yet again, without community participation at board meetings, the hard questions are never put to the board or the administration, and the payments are always approved without comment.
The unresponsiveness of the Pennsbury school board and the administration have, unfortunately, led most folks simply to throw up their hands and give up, believing that nothing they can say or do at a board meeting will make a difference. I understand that feeling, and I share the frustration.
But, I know that change can only occur if more people get involved, come to board meetings, fill up those empty folding chairs and force the decisions of the board and the administration out into the sunlight.
School Starts Today in Souderton
From the Inquirer.
School reopens Friday in Souderton
By Dan Hardy, Posted on Thu, Sep. 18, 2008
Striking teachers in Montgomery County's Souderton Area School District will be back in their classrooms tomorrow, with the two sides agreeing to enter into non-binding arbitration.
The Schools will reopen at their regular times.
State law mandates that the teachers would have had to go back to work next Wednesday, in order to get in 180 days of instruction by June 15. The strike began Sept. 2.
But with negotiations between the teachers and the board in the 6,900-student district at a virtual standstill on wages and healthcare, the main issues, the two sides reached an agreement last night for the teachers to return to work a few days early. The union membership voted this afternoon to end the strike while the arbitration process plays out.
The arbitration process which is dictated by state law, works like this: a three-member panel will be established, with each side appointing one member and a neutral member selected from a list. The panel will receive each side's proposals, which will be made public, and will hold hearings. Then it will issue a proposed agreement, based on the two sides' positions. The process normally takes several months.
Either side can reject the arbitration board's proposed settlement; the district's 512 teachers could then go back on strike but would have to return to work in time for students to get in 180 days of classes by June 30.
The two sides remain far apart on wage and benefit issues.
The school board estimates that the two sides are about $1.5 million apart on the cost of their health care proposals and about $10 million apart on the combined costs of health care and salaries. The union leadership says it is willing to reduce its salary demands, but only if the school board improves its healthcare offer.
The teachers' last wage proposal was for a four-year contract with average payroll increases of 5.98 percent in the first year, 9.4 percent in the second year, 7.14 percent in the third, and 6.9 percent in the fourth. The school board is proposing a three-year contract with increases of 2.5 percent each year.
On health care, the district now offers three insurance plans, with teachers contributing 10 percent of the premium for the most comprehensive one, 5 percent for one that has fewer benefits and more co-payments, and no premium contribution for a bare-bones plan. The board wants to eliminate the most comprehensive plan, to charge teachers a 4 percent premium contribution for the plan that used to have no contribution, and to charge a 12 percent premium contribution for the other plan.
The school district is now self-insured; the union wants to switch to a Blue Cross / Blue Shield plan, leave the percentages of premium contributions the same and add some improvements.
School reopens Friday in Souderton
By Dan Hardy, Posted on Thu, Sep. 18, 2008
Striking teachers in Montgomery County's Souderton Area School District will be back in their classrooms tomorrow, with the two sides agreeing to enter into non-binding arbitration.
The Schools will reopen at their regular times.
State law mandates that the teachers would have had to go back to work next Wednesday, in order to get in 180 days of instruction by June 15. The strike began Sept. 2.
But with negotiations between the teachers and the board in the 6,900-student district at a virtual standstill on wages and healthcare, the main issues, the two sides reached an agreement last night for the teachers to return to work a few days early. The union membership voted this afternoon to end the strike while the arbitration process plays out.
The arbitration process which is dictated by state law, works like this: a three-member panel will be established, with each side appointing one member and a neutral member selected from a list. The panel will receive each side's proposals, which will be made public, and will hold hearings. Then it will issue a proposed agreement, based on the two sides' positions. The process normally takes several months.
Either side can reject the arbitration board's proposed settlement; the district's 512 teachers could then go back on strike but would have to return to work in time for students to get in 180 days of classes by June 30.
The two sides remain far apart on wage and benefit issues.
The school board estimates that the two sides are about $1.5 million apart on the cost of their health care proposals and about $10 million apart on the combined costs of health care and salaries. The union leadership says it is willing to reduce its salary demands, but only if the school board improves its healthcare offer.
The teachers' last wage proposal was for a four-year contract with average payroll increases of 5.98 percent in the first year, 9.4 percent in the second year, 7.14 percent in the third, and 6.9 percent in the fourth. The school board is proposing a three-year contract with increases of 2.5 percent each year.
On health care, the district now offers three insurance plans, with teachers contributing 10 percent of the premium for the most comprehensive one, 5 percent for one that has fewer benefits and more co-payments, and no premium contribution for a bare-bones plan. The board wants to eliminate the most comprehensive plan, to charge teachers a 4 percent premium contribution for the plan that used to have no contribution, and to charge a 12 percent premium contribution for the other plan.
The school district is now self-insured; the union wants to switch to a Blue Cross / Blue Shield plan, leave the percentages of premium contributions the same and add some improvements.
Buns and Rolls
Strip clubs, bakeries, and church schools. What a great mix. From Long Island Newsday.
Here in Morrisville, didn't our plan call for a bakery to accompany the strip club?
Strip club blows top off charter school plan
BY JOHN HILDEBRAND | September 18, 2008
An establishment with a Web site advertising the "absolute best" in topless entertainment, Taste of Honey bar in downtown Hempstead would hardly rate as an ideal neighbor for grade-schoolers.
So state officials were scrambling to explain their policies yesterday, after a Hempstead school board member pointed out that the state had approved an independent charter school to open with a listed address next to a local strip club.
State officials added they hadn't visited the site but would, and would never let a school operate in such a location.
"We're always working to better our practices. That's something we take great pride in," said Cynthia M. Proctor, spokeswoman for a state university institute that handles charter school applications.
For example, she added, the institute might in the future ask applicants for more details regarding planned school locations, such as nearby businesses.
Proctor stressed, however, that the institute is already cautious in approving new charter schools, through a process that lasts for months and includes painstaking checks of applicants' academic and financial records.
Tuesday, state university trustees approved the creation of seven new charter schools - out of 19 applications. Among those approved was Academy Charter School in Hempstead, which is to open next fall with 168 students in grades K-2.
Typically, charter schools are not inspected until a month or two before they open, to give operators time to obtain required building permits.
The school lists its future address as 253A Fulton Ave., next to Taste of Honey. Hempstead school district authorities, who worry that the charter school will draw away students and property tax revenues, quickly criticized the location.
"I definitely wouldn't want to see anyone's children next to the Taste of Honey," said board president Charles Renfroe.
Not to worry, say charter school sponsors, who include leaders of Calvary Tabernacle, a local evangelical church. They note other sites are available, including a three-story building at 80 N. Franklin St., which houses the church's Sunday-school classrooms.
"We have plenty of space that's not next to a topless bar," said Robert Stewart, the church's chief operating officer.
Sponsors say they originally listed the Fulton Avenue site after an architect said the building, which the church owns and once served as its youth center, could be easily converted to an elementary school. Sponsors now concede the site is unacceptable from a political standpoint, and an attorney for the bar owner said the site was also inappropriate because of heavy vehicle traffic.
Still, sponsors regard all the furor as a bit silly, considering that Taste of Honey is in an area where bars are common. It doesn't open until 5 p.m. and its stucco exterior reveals nothing about its activities.
Said Stewart, "Many of the kids thought it was a bakery."
Here in Morrisville, didn't our plan call for a bakery to accompany the strip club?
Strip club blows top off charter school plan
BY JOHN HILDEBRAND | September 18, 2008
An establishment with a Web site advertising the "absolute best" in topless entertainment, Taste of Honey bar in downtown Hempstead would hardly rate as an ideal neighbor for grade-schoolers.
So state officials were scrambling to explain their policies yesterday, after a Hempstead school board member pointed out that the state had approved an independent charter school to open with a listed address next to a local strip club.
State officials added they hadn't visited the site but would, and would never let a school operate in such a location.
"We're always working to better our practices. That's something we take great pride in," said Cynthia M. Proctor, spokeswoman for a state university institute that handles charter school applications.
For example, she added, the institute might in the future ask applicants for more details regarding planned school locations, such as nearby businesses.
Proctor stressed, however, that the institute is already cautious in approving new charter schools, through a process that lasts for months and includes painstaking checks of applicants' academic and financial records.
Tuesday, state university trustees approved the creation of seven new charter schools - out of 19 applications. Among those approved was Academy Charter School in Hempstead, which is to open next fall with 168 students in grades K-2.
Typically, charter schools are not inspected until a month or two before they open, to give operators time to obtain required building permits.
The school lists its future address as 253A Fulton Ave., next to Taste of Honey. Hempstead school district authorities, who worry that the charter school will draw away students and property tax revenues, quickly criticized the location.
"I definitely wouldn't want to see anyone's children next to the Taste of Honey," said board president Charles Renfroe.
Not to worry, say charter school sponsors, who include leaders of Calvary Tabernacle, a local evangelical church. They note other sites are available, including a three-story building at 80 N. Franklin St., which houses the church's Sunday-school classrooms.
"We have plenty of space that's not next to a topless bar," said Robert Stewart, the church's chief operating officer.
Sponsors say they originally listed the Fulton Avenue site after an architect said the building, which the church owns and once served as its youth center, could be easily converted to an elementary school. Sponsors now concede the site is unacceptable from a political standpoint, and an attorney for the bar owner said the site was also inappropriate because of heavy vehicle traffic.
Still, sponsors regard all the furor as a bit silly, considering that Taste of Honey is in an area where bars are common. It doesn't open until 5 p.m. and its stucco exterior reveals nothing about its activities.
Said Stewart, "Many of the kids thought it was a bakery."
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Tech School Funding: Motion to Dissemble, Discuss, and Delay
From the BCCT.
My cracked and dusty crystal ball sees two future articles. One starts out like this: "Business managers of school districts served by Bucks County Technical High School agreed today to delay the revision of the school’s funding formula until the 2010-2011 budget.
" 'We've been examining this for over a year', said XXX. 'Taking the time to do this right will best serve all of our districts: student and taxpayer alike. The holidays are upon us, and the first budget drafts are due in January. Before you know it, it's June and we're starting all over again.' "
The other article? Miracle upon miracles, unanimity reigns and they actually agree upon a new plan. I didn't bother to write a draft of that article. That's the unlikely outcome.
Save the emails: This isn't bashing Neshaminy because they are mentioned. This isn't even bashing the Emperor and his board of chosen accomplices from Morrisville. It's a recognition that these six suburban districts have many similarities and several deep differences. The only course here is whether or not they can find a way to unite like the 13 colonies of 1776, or splinter apart like the former Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia of today.
I have four simple steps to fix this:
Put them back in the meeting room.
Serve lots of water and coffee.
Lock the bathrooms.
Agree on the plan.
See what a little motivation can accomplish?
Back to the drawing board for tech school funding formula
Posted in News on Wednesday, September 17th, 2008 at 4:25 pm by Joan Hellyer
Business managers of school districts served by Bucks County Technical High School agreed today to take another stab at revising the school’s funding formula.
At issue is whether some costs should be separated from the overall contributions of the Bensalem, Bristol, Bristol Township, Morrisville, Neshaminy and Pennsbury school districts. Right now, the costs are split among the six districts based on a formula involving fixed and variable costs.
The business managers suggested in 2007 to separate costs associated with special needs students from the formula because special education expenses are potentially more expensive than basic education costs.
However, one of the sending school districts did not support the proposed formula change because its school system could potentially face additional expenses. Neshaminy was the lone hold out to the change after projections suggested the district would have had to pay about $450,000 more in 2007-2008 had the new formula been in place for the comprehensive technical high school.
Any change to the school’s Articles of Agreement, including a funding formula revision, has to be unanimously approved before it can be implemented, school officials said.
Representatives of all six sending districts got together with tech school officials today to decide if something else could be done.
The managers agreed to meet within the next few weeks with Sharon Rendeiro, the tech school’s business administrator, to further break down the special education costs.
In addition, they also will break down the costs of each of the more than 30 trades offered at the school. Those costs vary depending on staff salaries, which are based on years of experience and level of education, and equipment, textbooks and supplies used in each trade, officials said.
The business administrators also agreed to take a look at how other comprehensive technical high schools in the state are funded.
They will then decide if any changes should be made to the current formula and suggest them to the tech school’s joint board committee. The committee, made up of school board members from each of the sending districts, will have to agree unanimously to make the changes before they can be implemented.
Attendees at today’s funding formula summit agreed the changes must be made by late November in order to be incorporated into the 2009-2010 budget.
My cracked and dusty crystal ball sees two future articles. One starts out like this: "Business managers of school districts served by Bucks County Technical High School agreed today to delay the revision of the school’s funding formula until the 2010-2011 budget.
" 'We've been examining this for over a year', said XXX. 'Taking the time to do this right will best serve all of our districts: student and taxpayer alike. The holidays are upon us, and the first budget drafts are due in January. Before you know it, it's June and we're starting all over again.' "
The other article? Miracle upon miracles, unanimity reigns and they actually agree upon a new plan. I didn't bother to write a draft of that article. That's the unlikely outcome.
Save the emails: This isn't bashing Neshaminy because they are mentioned. This isn't even bashing the Emperor and his board of chosen accomplices from Morrisville. It's a recognition that these six suburban districts have many similarities and several deep differences. The only course here is whether or not they can find a way to unite like the 13 colonies of 1776, or splinter apart like the former Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia of today.
I have four simple steps to fix this:
Put them back in the meeting room.
Serve lots of water and coffee.
Lock the bathrooms.
Agree on the plan.
See what a little motivation can accomplish?
Back to the drawing board for tech school funding formula
Posted in News on Wednesday, September 17th, 2008 at 4:25 pm by Joan Hellyer
Business managers of school districts served by Bucks County Technical High School agreed today to take another stab at revising the school’s funding formula.
At issue is whether some costs should be separated from the overall contributions of the Bensalem, Bristol, Bristol Township, Morrisville, Neshaminy and Pennsbury school districts. Right now, the costs are split among the six districts based on a formula involving fixed and variable costs.
The business managers suggested in 2007 to separate costs associated with special needs students from the formula because special education expenses are potentially more expensive than basic education costs.
However, one of the sending school districts did not support the proposed formula change because its school system could potentially face additional expenses. Neshaminy was the lone hold out to the change after projections suggested the district would have had to pay about $450,000 more in 2007-2008 had the new formula been in place for the comprehensive technical high school.
Any change to the school’s Articles of Agreement, including a funding formula revision, has to be unanimously approved before it can be implemented, school officials said.
Representatives of all six sending districts got together with tech school officials today to decide if something else could be done.
The managers agreed to meet within the next few weeks with Sharon Rendeiro, the tech school’s business administrator, to further break down the special education costs.
In addition, they also will break down the costs of each of the more than 30 trades offered at the school. Those costs vary depending on staff salaries, which are based on years of experience and level of education, and equipment, textbooks and supplies used in each trade, officials said.
The business administrators also agreed to take a look at how other comprehensive technical high schools in the state are funded.
They will then decide if any changes should be made to the current formula and suggest them to the tech school’s joint board committee. The committee, made up of school board members from each of the sending districts, will have to agree unanimously to make the changes before they can be implemented.
Attendees at today’s funding formula summit agreed the changes must be made by late November in order to be incorporated into the 2009-2010 budget.
Souderton: “There’s a price to be paid"
From the BCCT
Strike proves costly for many
By RICH PIETRAS
It’s hard to predict the outcome of the Souderton Area School District strike. But it goes without saying, before the teachers decide to put their picket signs down, the price tag is going up.
Parents and students are taking a hit. Children have nowhere to spend afternoons once occupied in the classroom. The cost of childcare, plus the gas to get them there, is a burden.
While teachers are somewhat insulated from lost wages because 180 school days will have to be fulfilled, the average teacher could lose $3,000 in pay because of the strike.
According to Bill Lukridge, president of the teachers union, teachers stand to lose 5 percent of their salary. Based on the average salary in the district ($61,630 for the 2005-06 school year) that comes to about $3,000.
School board solicitor Jeffrey Sultanik sounded surprised that it took the union so long to realize there was salary at stake.
“There’s a price to be paid for going on strike,” Sultanik said.
Teachers, who have been on strike since Sept. 2, do not get a paycheck during the strike, but will receive checks after they are forced to return to work on Wednesday as the sides move into nonbinding arbitration. If no deal is reached, teachers could strike again in the spring, but would have to return after about a week to guarantee students will get 180 days of schooling.
What the teachers will lose is the in-service days in their contracts. The teachers worked three of those days in August, but nine remain.
Sultanik said the district does not intend to make up the nine in-service days.
“They already lost the days of the strike,” Sultanik said. “And in our opinion, it’s not our intention to make up those days.”
The union estimates the district would save nearly $1.5 million from the work stoppage by not having to pay teachers for those nine days. And, it argues, that $1.5 million is enough to close nearly the entire gap between the school board and union’s health plan proposals.
“If the union is willing to give up those makeup days, we are willing to talk about that in terms of the overall context of the bargaining,” Sultanik said.
Keep up on the latest in the Souderton strike at www.intelligencernow.com/category/souderton-school-strike. For updates on negotiations, visit www.soudertonsd.org and www.saea.info/.
Strike proves costly for many
By RICH PIETRAS
It’s hard to predict the outcome of the Souderton Area School District strike. But it goes without saying, before the teachers decide to put their picket signs down, the price tag is going up.
Parents and students are taking a hit. Children have nowhere to spend afternoons once occupied in the classroom. The cost of childcare, plus the gas to get them there, is a burden.
While teachers are somewhat insulated from lost wages because 180 school days will have to be fulfilled, the average teacher could lose $3,000 in pay because of the strike.
According to Bill Lukridge, president of the teachers union, teachers stand to lose 5 percent of their salary. Based on the average salary in the district ($61,630 for the 2005-06 school year) that comes to about $3,000.
School board solicitor Jeffrey Sultanik sounded surprised that it took the union so long to realize there was salary at stake.
“There’s a price to be paid for going on strike,” Sultanik said.
Teachers, who have been on strike since Sept. 2, do not get a paycheck during the strike, but will receive checks after they are forced to return to work on Wednesday as the sides move into nonbinding arbitration. If no deal is reached, teachers could strike again in the spring, but would have to return after about a week to guarantee students will get 180 days of schooling.
What the teachers will lose is the in-service days in their contracts. The teachers worked three of those days in August, but nine remain.
Sultanik said the district does not intend to make up the nine in-service days.
“They already lost the days of the strike,” Sultanik said. “And in our opinion, it’s not our intention to make up those days.”
The union estimates the district would save nearly $1.5 million from the work stoppage by not having to pay teachers for those nine days. And, it argues, that $1.5 million is enough to close nearly the entire gap between the school board and union’s health plan proposals.
“If the union is willing to give up those makeup days, we are willing to talk about that in terms of the overall context of the bargaining,” Sultanik said.
Keep up on the latest in the Souderton strike at www.intelligencernow.com/category/souderton-school-strike. For updates on negotiations, visit www.soudertonsd.org and www.saea.info/.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Tech School Funding: Still Discussing
From the BCCT. Still. No. Budget. Formula. Decision.
This should be setting the Emperor's famously short fuse for time wasting to "Warp Core Breach" levels.
Who is representing Morrisville now? Reba Dunford is an excellent representative, but she's nearly out the door.
Funding formula review set for Wednesday
Posted in News on Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 at 4:21 pm by Joan Hellyer
Representatives of six area school districts will meet with Bucks County Technical High School staff Wednesday to examine costs associated with educating each of the school’s estimated 1,500 students.
The goal will be to determine if changes should be made to the funding formula at the comprehensive technical high school off Wistar Road in Bristol Township, said BCTHS Administrative Director Scott Parks.
The school serves the Bensalem, Bristol, Bristol Township, Morrisville, Neshaminy and Pennsbury school districts.
“The group would have to come up with a funding formula that appears to be fair to all six [sending] districts. That’s what I’m shooting for,” Parks said.
The noon meeting will be held in the board room near the administrative offices. Call 215-949-1700 for more information.
This should be setting the Emperor's famously short fuse for time wasting to "Warp Core Breach" levels.
Who is representing Morrisville now? Reba Dunford is an excellent representative, but she's nearly out the door.
Funding formula review set for Wednesday
Posted in News on Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 at 4:21 pm by Joan Hellyer
Representatives of six area school districts will meet with Bucks County Technical High School staff Wednesday to examine costs associated with educating each of the school’s estimated 1,500 students.
The goal will be to determine if changes should be made to the funding formula at the comprehensive technical high school off Wistar Road in Bristol Township, said BCTHS Administrative Director Scott Parks.
The school serves the Bensalem, Bristol, Bristol Township, Morrisville, Neshaminy and Pennsbury school districts.
“The group would have to come up with a funding formula that appears to be fair to all six [sending] districts. That’s what I’m shooting for,” Parks said.
The noon meeting will be held in the board room near the administrative offices. Call 215-949-1700 for more information.
Souderton strike talks break down
From the Doylestown Intelligencer. Things are getting uglier.
Souderton strike talks break down
By RICH PIETRAS
The Intelligencer
Seven hours of talks versus 15 days of picketing.
That's all you need to know about the three negotiating sessions in the Souderton Area School strike to know how it's going. And after both sides met for only an hour on Monday to no avail, it appears short sessions will be the norm until the teachers are forced back on Sept. 24. At which point the negotiations go to another level.
Gary Smith, representative of the teachers union, characterized recent negotiation sessions as holdouts until both sides are forced to go before an arbitrator. While the three sessions have been held with a state mediator, who has tried to “aid the talks,” an arbitrator's job will be aimed at forcing both sides to change their positions.
“I feel both sides are waiting to go before arbitration because they don't want to hurt themselves,” Smith said. “And I disagree that the teachers association has not negotiated in good faith. A mediator has been working hard hearing both sides, and some compromises have been made.
“However, I don't see that there is enough movement from any party to warrant changing position,” Smith said.
Once state law brings the teachers back Sept. 24, the arbitration process begins as both sides move toward a “final best offer.”
After both parties release their offers, a neutral third party arbitrator is brought in, chosen by each side or by the Labor Board if the sides can't agree. This is followed by a public scrutiny period, where the public can see both proposals.
Then, 10 days later, the arbitrator presents a proposed contract. Each party gets a chance to accept it and if they can't agree, the teachers could vote to strike again in the spring.
But Jeffrey Sultanik, school board's solicitor and main negotiator, said the board is not merely content to wait for an arbitrator.
Sultanik said that although the board made concessions on its proposal for in-service days and parent conference days, it paled in comparison to the union's insistence that the board agree to a health insurance plan that will cost the district $1.9 million more than the offer they have on the table.
And with another mediated negotiation session set for Friday, the real talks may not start until next week.
The teachers union was reportedly seeking an average annual salary increase of 8.2 percent over four years, partly in an effort to raise starting salaries that rank last in Montgomery County at just over $36,000. The school board has countered with a 2.5 percent raise in each of three years.
Souderton teachers did get some company on the strike line Monday when the Saucon Valley Education Association in Lehigh County went on strike. According to the Souderton union, the teachers there have been offered raises that range from 4.7 percent to 6.5 percent.
Keep up on the latest in the Souderton strike at www.intelligencernow.com/category/souderton-school-strike. Also, for updates on negotiations, visit www.soudertonsd.org and www.saea.info/.
“Despite what the union leadership has been communicating to the public, the union negotiator has not made a single counterproposal to the salary plan the board submitted on Sept. 1,” school board president Bernie Currie said in a statement. “Half of the month has passed since then. It is more than disheartening for us and for the families within this school district.”
Bill Lukridge, president of the teachers union said the board once again avoided the issues of salary and benefits, stating that, “The school board knows that for movement on salary we require the condition that the school board moves on medical.
“We have tied medical care with salary because the two are interrelated. They know we don't want to deal with their salary proposal until we know what they are thinking in relations to co-pays, deductibles and premium shares.”
When asked if he though both sides were “entrenched in their positions,” Lukridge answered, “Yes we are, on both sides.”
Souderton strike talks break down
By RICH PIETRAS
The Intelligencer
Seven hours of talks versus 15 days of picketing.
That's all you need to know about the three negotiating sessions in the Souderton Area School strike to know how it's going. And after both sides met for only an hour on Monday to no avail, it appears short sessions will be the norm until the teachers are forced back on Sept. 24. At which point the negotiations go to another level.
Gary Smith, representative of the teachers union, characterized recent negotiation sessions as holdouts until both sides are forced to go before an arbitrator. While the three sessions have been held with a state mediator, who has tried to “aid the talks,” an arbitrator's job will be aimed at forcing both sides to change their positions.
“I feel both sides are waiting to go before arbitration because they don't want to hurt themselves,” Smith said. “And I disagree that the teachers association has not negotiated in good faith. A mediator has been working hard hearing both sides, and some compromises have been made.
“However, I don't see that there is enough movement from any party to warrant changing position,” Smith said.
Once state law brings the teachers back Sept. 24, the arbitration process begins as both sides move toward a “final best offer.”
After both parties release their offers, a neutral third party arbitrator is brought in, chosen by each side or by the Labor Board if the sides can't agree. This is followed by a public scrutiny period, where the public can see both proposals.
Then, 10 days later, the arbitrator presents a proposed contract. Each party gets a chance to accept it and if they can't agree, the teachers could vote to strike again in the spring.
But Jeffrey Sultanik, school board's solicitor and main negotiator, said the board is not merely content to wait for an arbitrator.
Sultanik said that although the board made concessions on its proposal for in-service days and parent conference days, it paled in comparison to the union's insistence that the board agree to a health insurance plan that will cost the district $1.9 million more than the offer they have on the table.
And with another mediated negotiation session set for Friday, the real talks may not start until next week.
The teachers union was reportedly seeking an average annual salary increase of 8.2 percent over four years, partly in an effort to raise starting salaries that rank last in Montgomery County at just over $36,000. The school board has countered with a 2.5 percent raise in each of three years.
Souderton teachers did get some company on the strike line Monday when the Saucon Valley Education Association in Lehigh County went on strike. According to the Souderton union, the teachers there have been offered raises that range from 4.7 percent to 6.5 percent.
Keep up on the latest in the Souderton strike at www.intelligencernow.com/category/souderton-school-strike. Also, for updates on negotiations, visit www.soudertonsd.org and www.saea.info/.
“Despite what the union leadership has been communicating to the public, the union negotiator has not made a single counterproposal to the salary plan the board submitted on Sept. 1,” school board president Bernie Currie said in a statement. “Half of the month has passed since then. It is more than disheartening for us and for the families within this school district.”
Bill Lukridge, president of the teachers union said the board once again avoided the issues of salary and benefits, stating that, “The school board knows that for movement on salary we require the condition that the school board moves on medical.
“We have tied medical care with salary because the two are interrelated. They know we don't want to deal with their salary proposal until we know what they are thinking in relations to co-pays, deductibles and premium shares.”
When asked if he though both sides were “entrenched in their positions,” Lukridge answered, “Yes we are, on both sides.”
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
A Few Bad Apples. How Much Applesauce Can They Make?
An editorial from the Santa Fe New Mexican. (No, not that Mexico...the American one. It's one of those square states at the bottom of the map, below the other square and box states.)
Kids share plenty of blame for our schools' failings-
Editorial | The New Mexican
9/12/2008 - 9/14/08
For the past few weeks, Mallard Fillmore, the conservative comic strip at the bottom of the Opinions page Monday through Saturday, has gone after our nation's schools — especially teachers, whom cartoonist Bruce Tinsley portrays as muddle-headed softies, and, by implication, the people to blame for the sad state of public education. [Moderator Note: Several of the cartoons follow at the end of the post.]
The silliness cited by Tinsley might match a few teachers — the kind John McCain rightly says should be faced with finding a new line of work. But there are far too many excellent educators out there, doing excellent work, to hang all the blame on the entire profession, or even the teachers' unions.
We've long felt that negligent parents have much more to do with poorly educated kids. Those who kiss off their kids' progress, of course, have their own excuses: Both of us have to work, or I'm a single parent, and the school systems don't do enough to baby-sit our little darlings after the last bell, so how can we supplement their schooling — especially after they've spent so many after-school hours fomenting rebellion or fermenting apathy before we/I get home from work ...
Anything but take responsibility, Mom, Dad ...
However, it's been a long time since the editorial "we" put a chunk of responsibility where it belongs: on the kids. Yes, kids; those budding people portrayed so often as victims of this failure and that.
So many of them are good students, reliable in attendance, busy with extracurricular activities and budding good students that even this leg of the public-education triangle can't be daubed with the same paint. But there are just enough louts and loutesses out there to make a mess of the process that they need to be called down.
These are the ones who cut classes; who mouth off to teachers and principals; who, when they do go to school, sit sullenly and refuse to take part in class; who treat school like a joke, and want everyone in on it.
In just a few years, they discover themselves as the butt of their joke: Job opportunities are, to put it mildly, limited. Colleges don't exactly welcome them with open arms. Even the armed services, or certain of them, say they aren't interested. So that leaves what — crime?
But try telling that to the thin layer of low-level teens impervious to urgings, warnings or matter-of-fact advice; those kids know it all ...
And that's what we grudgingly like about Gov. Bill Richardson's radical proposal of last spring: To be eligible for a driver's license, you've got to go to school — and knock down decent grades.
Ouch — right in the steering wheel!
Once the governor's program is in place, driver's-license eligibility for teens would be pegged to "near-proficient" scores on tests, and 90-percent attendance rates, or at least according to his original pitch. We'll be curious to see how it reaches the rule-books, and what kind of civil-liberties challenges it raises.
We're not so sure it will work: Many families need their kids' income — some so badly that Mom and Dad urge junior to drop out of school. But the kid will likely need a car to get to jobs. Does the state penalize poverty?
Rather than the governor and the school system riding roughshod over the kids, the parents ought to be the ones doing it; so we're back to their role in the state of public education.
Back East, meanwhile, school districts are paying kids to do well in school. Bribery! you may gasp — but maybe it's merely an incentive to learn, and, as an introduction to our capitalistic society, the pay-for-grades experiments themselves might prove educational.
Negative and positive pressure both have drawbacks — yet it's encouraging to see our leaders remembering, amid their scapegoating of educational failure, that schools are about kids — and kids play a role in the learning process.
Kids share plenty of blame for our schools' failings-
Editorial | The New Mexican
9/12/2008 - 9/14/08
For the past few weeks, Mallard Fillmore, the conservative comic strip at the bottom of the Opinions page Monday through Saturday, has gone after our nation's schools — especially teachers, whom cartoonist Bruce Tinsley portrays as muddle-headed softies, and, by implication, the people to blame for the sad state of public education. [Moderator Note: Several of the cartoons follow at the end of the post.]
The silliness cited by Tinsley might match a few teachers — the kind John McCain rightly says should be faced with finding a new line of work. But there are far too many excellent educators out there, doing excellent work, to hang all the blame on the entire profession, or even the teachers' unions.
We've long felt that negligent parents have much more to do with poorly educated kids. Those who kiss off their kids' progress, of course, have their own excuses: Both of us have to work, or I'm a single parent, and the school systems don't do enough to baby-sit our little darlings after the last bell, so how can we supplement their schooling — especially after they've spent so many after-school hours fomenting rebellion or fermenting apathy before we/I get home from work ...
Anything but take responsibility, Mom, Dad ...
However, it's been a long time since the editorial "we" put a chunk of responsibility where it belongs: on the kids. Yes, kids; those budding people portrayed so often as victims of this failure and that.
So many of them are good students, reliable in attendance, busy with extracurricular activities and budding good students that even this leg of the public-education triangle can't be daubed with the same paint. But there are just enough louts and loutesses out there to make a mess of the process that they need to be called down.
These are the ones who cut classes; who mouth off to teachers and principals; who, when they do go to school, sit sullenly and refuse to take part in class; who treat school like a joke, and want everyone in on it.
In just a few years, they discover themselves as the butt of their joke: Job opportunities are, to put it mildly, limited. Colleges don't exactly welcome them with open arms. Even the armed services, or certain of them, say they aren't interested. So that leaves what — crime?
But try telling that to the thin layer of low-level teens impervious to urgings, warnings or matter-of-fact advice; those kids know it all ...
And that's what we grudgingly like about Gov. Bill Richardson's radical proposal of last spring: To be eligible for a driver's license, you've got to go to school — and knock down decent grades.
Ouch — right in the steering wheel!
Once the governor's program is in place, driver's-license eligibility for teens would be pegged to "near-proficient" scores on tests, and 90-percent attendance rates, or at least according to his original pitch. We'll be curious to see how it reaches the rule-books, and what kind of civil-liberties challenges it raises.
We're not so sure it will work: Many families need their kids' income — some so badly that Mom and Dad urge junior to drop out of school. But the kid will likely need a car to get to jobs. Does the state penalize poverty?
Rather than the governor and the school system riding roughshod over the kids, the parents ought to be the ones doing it; so we're back to their role in the state of public education.
Back East, meanwhile, school districts are paying kids to do well in school. Bribery! you may gasp — but maybe it's merely an incentive to learn, and, as an introduction to our capitalistic society, the pay-for-grades experiments themselves might prove educational.
Negative and positive pressure both have drawbacks — yet it's encouraging to see our leaders remembering, amid their scapegoating of educational failure, that schools are about kids — and kids play a role in the learning process.
October 21, 2008: Bolos Replacement Day
From the BCCT. Anyone have anything to say to George and family?
Bolos resigns from council
The council has 30 days from Saturday to fill the vacancy.
By DANNY ADLER
Councilman George Bolos is leaving Morrisville, along with his seat on the borough council.
His resignation is effective Saturday, and then the council has 30 days to fill the vacancy, officials said.
Bolos, a Third Ward Republican councilman who’s lived in the borough for about 15 years, is resigning because he’s moving to Virginia.
Bolos said he will miss the borough and hopes the borough can revitalize its downtown business district, calling economic development “the biggest issue” facing Morrisville.
“[Officials] need to do something in the way of economic development in the downtown area,” Bolos said in an interview before Monday’s council meeting.
Bolos also resigned from the Morrisville Municipal Authority Monday night. He has served on various council committees, is the former chairman of the Morrisville Economic Development Corporation and board member for the Morrisville Community Pool.
He first joined the council when he was appointed in January 2002 to fill a vacancy left by now-mayor Thomas Wisnosky. Bolos’ resignation leaves only two Republicans out of the remaining seven council members.
“I will miss the people of the borough. There’s a reason people stay for generations. It’s a unique town,” Bolos said.
Bolos resigns from council
The council has 30 days from Saturday to fill the vacancy.
By DANNY ADLER
Councilman George Bolos is leaving Morrisville, along with his seat on the borough council.
His resignation is effective Saturday, and then the council has 30 days to fill the vacancy, officials said.
Bolos, a Third Ward Republican councilman who’s lived in the borough for about 15 years, is resigning because he’s moving to Virginia.
Bolos said he will miss the borough and hopes the borough can revitalize its downtown business district, calling economic development “the biggest issue” facing Morrisville.
“[Officials] need to do something in the way of economic development in the downtown area,” Bolos said in an interview before Monday’s council meeting.
Bolos also resigned from the Morrisville Municipal Authority Monday night. He has served on various council committees, is the former chairman of the Morrisville Economic Development Corporation and board member for the Morrisville Community Pool.
He first joined the council when he was appointed in January 2002 to fill a vacancy left by now-mayor Thomas Wisnosky. Bolos’ resignation leaves only two Republicans out of the remaining seven council members.
“I will miss the people of the borough. There’s a reason people stay for generations. It’s a unique town,” Bolos said.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Borough Council Meeting tonight
From the BCCT.
We'll miss you George. Best of luck to you and your family in Virginia.
Morrisville council: 7:30 p.m., borough hall, 35 Union St. Agenda: public comment; regular reports; consider renewing membership with the Friends of the Delaware Canal for $100; consider payment for the Morrisville library boiler in the amount of $7,758; consider payment for West Bridge Street curb and sidewalk replacement in the amount of $266,107.17; consider resolution to apply to the Bucks County community development block grant program; consider appointments to the cable advisory board, economic development corporation and recreation advisory board; consider extending Williamson Park hours to accommodate the Morrisville Rotary carnival; consider planting project and support the TreeVitalize grant application; consider resolution to adopt FEMA’s National Incident Management System for emergency planning; consider authorizing borough personnel, engineer and solicitor to carry out enforcement procedures under the Dangerous Structures Ordinance; consider accepting Councilman George Bolos’ resignation from the borough council and the Morrisville Municipal Authority. 215-295-8181
We'll miss you George. Best of luck to you and your family in Virginia.
Morrisville council: 7:30 p.m., borough hall, 35 Union St. Agenda: public comment; regular reports; consider renewing membership with the Friends of the Delaware Canal for $100; consider payment for the Morrisville library boiler in the amount of $7,758; consider payment for West Bridge Street curb and sidewalk replacement in the amount of $266,107.17; consider resolution to apply to the Bucks County community development block grant program; consider appointments to the cable advisory board, economic development corporation and recreation advisory board; consider extending Williamson Park hours to accommodate the Morrisville Rotary carnival; consider planting project and support the TreeVitalize grant application; consider resolution to adopt FEMA’s National Incident Management System for emergency planning; consider authorizing borough personnel, engineer and solicitor to carry out enforcement procedures under the Dangerous Structures Ordinance; consider accepting Councilman George Bolos’ resignation from the borough council and the Morrisville Municipal Authority. 215-295-8181
Exceptional Leadership Inspires the Best Effort in Others
Musings on leadership from the Leaders on Leadership blog.
Their masthead quote is a thought provoking quote from that often-quoted President, Theodore Roosevelt: "People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. . . . The leader works in the open, and the boss in covert. The leader leads, and the boss drives."
Check out the entry titled "Exceptional Leadership Inspires the Best Effort in Others. Exceptional leadership, therefore, is leadership that inspires people to give their best effort. Although, for a leader, being productive and having good time management skills are important and necessary, they are not sufficient. Having good judgment becomes increasingly important the higher in an organization we rise, however it too is insufficient for truly effective leadership. Exceptional leadership is about relating to people in such a way as to inspire them to give their best effort – for themselves, their organization, their community, their family, and/or their world."
Think about of board of education, our borough council, and our other leaders. How many of them are leaders, and how many of them are drivers?
Their masthead quote is a thought provoking quote from that often-quoted President, Theodore Roosevelt: "People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. . . . The leader works in the open, and the boss in covert. The leader leads, and the boss drives."
Check out the entry titled "Exceptional Leadership Inspires the Best Effort in Others. Exceptional leadership, therefore, is leadership that inspires people to give their best effort. Although, for a leader, being productive and having good time management skills are important and necessary, they are not sufficient. Having good judgment becomes increasingly important the higher in an organization we rise, however it too is insufficient for truly effective leadership. Exceptional leadership is about relating to people in such a way as to inspire them to give their best effort – for themselves, their organization, their community, their family, and/or their world."
Think about of board of education, our borough council, and our other leaders. How many of them are leaders, and how many of them are drivers?
Another District Merger?
He's an article from the Harrisburg Patriot-News covering the results of a merger between two Dauphin County school districts.
They're doing it wrong! There's been a year-long study on the feasibility of such a merger. Our current school board has shown us this is not the way to do it. Why spend money on feasibility and plans when "Just Do It!" ain't just for Nike anymore. Get it done and stop wasting time. Let's move on!
Merger decision to take time, 2 say
Sunday, September 14, 2008
BY PHYLLIS ZIMMERMAN
For The Patriot-News
Despite more than a year of speculation, the Halifax and Millersburg school districts won't soon decide about a possible consolidation, school officials say.
"Unfortunately, I cannot speculate on when such an action could take place," Halifax school board President Todd Hoover said. "This is a monumental decision and we want to take as much time as is necessary to make what we believe to be the decision that is best for the students, residents and taxpayers, faculty and staff of both districts."
Millersburg Superintendent Sheree-Lee Knorr echoed Hoover's assessment.
The Halifax and Millersburg school boards agreed in April 2007 to participate in a study done by the Pennsylvania Economy League to examine a possible consolidation. That study was completed about a year ago, providing three proposed options for a merger and a fourth option for the districts to share buildings but remain separate.
The districts would save money by eliminating duplicate services and buildings and offering more opportunities for students.
In early 2008, the districts commissioned EI Associates to conduct more studies of Millersburg and Halifax that projected the costs or savings for each district without consolidating.
"We felt that the Pennsylvania Economy League study didn't give us all the information that we needed to make a baseline comparison of both districts. We felt we really needed additional information -- would consolidating really bring us cost savings?" Halifax Superintendent Robert Hassinger said.
The second study examined three proposed scenarios for each district, such as upgrading buildings with no additional space and upgrading buildings while adding space "we feel we need," Hassinger said.
The study's third component examined adding "building space for additional programs that we felt we would be nice to have but not necessary," Hassinger said. "Now we're just looking at the studies to see what it's telling us. It's not a clear-cut decision."
A merger would turn Dauphin County's two smallest districts into a midsized one with about 2,100 students.
The proposed merger would be the first in the state in 30 years.
WHAT'S NEXT
The school boards plan to continue discussing the studies. WHEN AND WHERE
# The Halifax School Board will meet at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 23 in the high school conference room, 3940 Peters Mountain Road.
# The Millersburg School Board will meet at 7 p.m. Oct. 20 in the district board room, 799 Center St.
PUBLIC COMMENT School officials said they would like to hold more public forums but have yet to set dates.
They're doing it wrong! There's been a year-long study on the feasibility of such a merger. Our current school board has shown us this is not the way to do it. Why spend money on feasibility and plans when "Just Do It!" ain't just for Nike anymore. Get it done and stop wasting time. Let's move on!
Merger decision to take time, 2 say
Sunday, September 14, 2008
BY PHYLLIS ZIMMERMAN
For The Patriot-News
Despite more than a year of speculation, the Halifax and Millersburg school districts won't soon decide about a possible consolidation, school officials say.
"Unfortunately, I cannot speculate on when such an action could take place," Halifax school board President Todd Hoover said. "This is a monumental decision and we want to take as much time as is necessary to make what we believe to be the decision that is best for the students, residents and taxpayers, faculty and staff of both districts."
Millersburg Superintendent Sheree-Lee Knorr echoed Hoover's assessment.
The Halifax and Millersburg school boards agreed in April 2007 to participate in a study done by the Pennsylvania Economy League to examine a possible consolidation. That study was completed about a year ago, providing three proposed options for a merger and a fourth option for the districts to share buildings but remain separate.
The districts would save money by eliminating duplicate services and buildings and offering more opportunities for students.
In early 2008, the districts commissioned EI Associates to conduct more studies of Millersburg and Halifax that projected the costs or savings for each district without consolidating.
"We felt that the Pennsylvania Economy League study didn't give us all the information that we needed to make a baseline comparison of both districts. We felt we really needed additional information -- would consolidating really bring us cost savings?" Halifax Superintendent Robert Hassinger said.
The second study examined three proposed scenarios for each district, such as upgrading buildings with no additional space and upgrading buildings while adding space "we feel we need," Hassinger said.
The study's third component examined adding "building space for additional programs that we felt we would be nice to have but not necessary," Hassinger said. "Now we're just looking at the studies to see what it's telling us. It's not a clear-cut decision."
A merger would turn Dauphin County's two smallest districts into a midsized one with about 2,100 students.
The proposed merger would be the first in the state in 30 years.
WHAT'S NEXT
The school boards plan to continue discussing the studies. WHEN AND WHERE
# The Halifax School Board will meet at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 23 in the high school conference room, 3940 Peters Mountain Road.
# The Millersburg School Board will meet at 7 p.m. Oct. 20 in the district board room, 799 Center St.
PUBLIC COMMENT School officials said they would like to hold more public forums but have yet to set dates.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Fewer students involved in fights
From the BCCT.
Fewer students involved in fights
The state reports less trouble with students at area high schools, but there still were almost 1,000 altercations.
By THERESA HEGEL
Fighting is still one of the most common offenses in Bucks County schools, according to data recently released by the state. Despite its continued prevalence, however, the incidents reported are significantly lower for the 2006-07 school year than for the previous year. In Bucks, there were 216 fights, down from 279 in 2005-06.
The highest number of offenses reported in the counties were minor infractions — such as profanity or using cell phones in class — that aren’t serious enough for a separate categorization. There were nearly 1,000 such incidents in the two counties.
Data from schools across the state is available online at the state Department of Education’s Web site. Less than 4 percent of students in Pennsylvania were involved in incidents of misconduct two years ago, according to the report.
“While we always will have to be diligent in ensuring that our schools are safe, the latest statistics show schools are, for the most part, doing a solid job of creating and maintaining a quality environment for learning,” said Gerald L. Zahorchak, state education secretary.
Though fighting was typical on a countywide level, the breakdown for specific school districts tells a slightly different story.
Another factor contributing to increased detection is the strong investigation skills of the district’s security force, many of whom are former police officers, Hassler said.
Disorderly conduct is more common at the vo-techs than in district schools. Bucks County Technical High School had 49 incidents, and Middle Bucks Institute of Technology had 39.
Kathryn Strouse, director of Middle Bucks, explained the school takes it very seriously when students refuse to cooperate with teachers or are disruptive.
Tech classrooms often are set up to resemble the workplace, and part of the grading is based on a student’s employability, she said. A lot of their equipment — such as nail guns, knives and welding torches — can be dangerous if used carelessly or incorrectly.
“We feel like we have to hold them very accountable for their actions to ensure safety,” she said.
Bensalem School District followed the trend of Bucks County, with 44 incidents of fighting in 2006-07.
Superintendent James Lombardo, who took his post in January of last year, had no insights about the relatively high number of fights, but he did note that fighting had declined significantly the following school year.
Last year, the district initiated a mission to “address the needs of the whole child” and promote a “safe and healthy environment” for learning, he said.
The move wasn’t in response to the data gathered by the state, but it has seemed to help with student behavior, Lombardo said.
Ultimately, the state’s data is a worthwhile tool, but its age makes it difficult to use in forming school policy, Hassler said.
Fewer students involved in fights
The state reports less trouble with students at area high schools, but there still were almost 1,000 altercations.
By THERESA HEGEL
Fighting is still one of the most common offenses in Bucks County schools, according to data recently released by the state. Despite its continued prevalence, however, the incidents reported are significantly lower for the 2006-07 school year than for the previous year. In Bucks, there were 216 fights, down from 279 in 2005-06.
The highest number of offenses reported in the counties were minor infractions — such as profanity or using cell phones in class — that aren’t serious enough for a separate categorization. There were nearly 1,000 such incidents in the two counties.
Data from schools across the state is available online at the state Department of Education’s Web site. Less than 4 percent of students in Pennsylvania were involved in incidents of misconduct two years ago, according to the report.
“While we always will have to be diligent in ensuring that our schools are safe, the latest statistics show schools are, for the most part, doing a solid job of creating and maintaining a quality environment for learning,” said Gerald L. Zahorchak, state education secretary.
Though fighting was typical on a countywide level, the breakdown for specific school districts tells a slightly different story.
Another factor contributing to increased detection is the strong investigation skills of the district’s security force, many of whom are former police officers, Hassler said.
Disorderly conduct is more common at the vo-techs than in district schools. Bucks County Technical High School had 49 incidents, and Middle Bucks Institute of Technology had 39.
Kathryn Strouse, director of Middle Bucks, explained the school takes it very seriously when students refuse to cooperate with teachers or are disruptive.
Tech classrooms often are set up to resemble the workplace, and part of the grading is based on a student’s employability, she said. A lot of their equipment — such as nail guns, knives and welding torches — can be dangerous if used carelessly or incorrectly.
“We feel like we have to hold them very accountable for their actions to ensure safety,” she said.
Bensalem School District followed the trend of Bucks County, with 44 incidents of fighting in 2006-07.
Superintendent James Lombardo, who took his post in January of last year, had no insights about the relatively high number of fights, but he did note that fighting had declined significantly the following school year.
Last year, the district initiated a mission to “address the needs of the whole child” and promote a “safe and healthy environment” for learning, he said.
The move wasn’t in response to the data gathered by the state, but it has seemed to help with student behavior, Lombardo said.
Ultimately, the state’s data is a worthwhile tool, but its age makes it difficult to use in forming school policy, Hassler said.
High School Re-Accredited
From the BCCT.
Morrisville Middle Senior High School and Solebury School in New Hope recently earned re-accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools. The schools completed an intensive threeyear process. A volunteer validation team of educators appointed by Middle States completed the evaluations with a visit of three and a half days to each school.
To become accredited, a school must meet the Middle States Association’s standards in mission, beliefs, objectives, governance and leadership, organizational design and staff, educational programs, learning media services and technology, student services, student life and activities, facilities, health and safety, finances, assessment of student learning and planning.
To learn more, visit www.css-msa.org.
Morrisville Middle Senior High School and Solebury School in New Hope recently earned re-accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools. The schools completed an intensive threeyear process. A volunteer validation team of educators appointed by Middle States completed the evaluations with a visit of three and a half days to each school.
To become accredited, a school must meet the Middle States Association’s standards in mission, beliefs, objectives, governance and leadership, organizational design and staff, educational programs, learning media services and technology, student services, student life and activities, facilities, health and safety, finances, assessment of student learning and planning.
To learn more, visit www.css-msa.org.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
School District Involvement
From the Philadelphia Daily News. A big urban district has problems that Morrisville will never experience. They do have the same mix of students, staff, school board members, and parents. The last few lines of this story caught my eye. It's good advice for the Emperor and the board of chosen accomplices.
"Parents have a right to be engaged in this process of educating their children and they should exercise it. But they can't exercise it if we turn them away," she said.
"So, the school district has a responsibility to say, 'We want you here.' "
While you're beating down $35.00 expenditures and running up charges on your own tabs, think about the people you'll need later on. The procurement card witch hunts are the most hilarious. Check out Channel 28 for the most recent installment.
Nutter: Parents, city have education roles
By MENSAH M. DEAN, Philadelphia Daily News, Posted on Thu, Sep. 11, 2008
Now that school is back in session, children should not be out after dark as so many often are, Mayor Nutter believes.
They should be at home getting help from their parents with homework, eating nutritious meals and going to bed early enough to be rested and ready for school.
Nutter, the father of a daughter in middle school, plans to say as much this evening during a back-to-basics education speech at South Philadelphia High School, Broad Street and Snyder Avenue.
"I believe that the most critical element to the success of young people in Philadelphia is what adults do," Nutter said yesterday in an interview. "Of course, their first, longest and most consistent teacher will be their parents.
"The schools - teachers, principals and administrators - have a tremendous impact. The business community as well, and certainly elected officials, all have roles to play," he added.
"So I'm going to talk to the citizens of Philadelphia about everyone's different but collective role in improving educational outcomes for kids."
Since taking office in January, Nutter has spoken frequently of two key education goals, and will stress them again this evening: to halve the 45 percent dropout rate within seven years, and to double the number of adults with college degrees over the next decade. Just 18 percent of adults in the city now have four-year degrees.
Toward the dropout goal, Nutter will announce that the school district and the city are preparing to implement an "early-warning system" to stem dropping out among 6th-graders - identified by research as a vulnerable year.
To fund that program and others for at-risk youth, the city will realign more than $200 million now used for after-school, summer and prevention programs, according to a draft of the speech provided by the mayor's office.
On the college front, Nutter will announce the creation of CollegeReady Philadelphia, which will link high-school students to college-preparation programs. Foundation funding is being sought for the program, according to the speech.
To institutions of higher learning, Nutter will propose, as he has previously, that they commit to providing 1,000 scholarships each year to graduating city high-school students.
"If we can get it together and work on our respective tasks, a decade from now, people will be talking about the Philadelphia Miracle, and we'll be more than happy to tell anyone how we did it," according to Nutter's draft.
Education-watchers said the mayor's words are admirable, but he and other city officials must continue working to get more funding for the 165,000-student district.
"He's on the right track," said Greg Wade, president of the Philadelphia Home and School Council, the largest parent group in the city. "Parents need to get involved and get their kids to school on time. But when they get there we need to make sure they are safe and they have books on those desks. That takes an investment."
Gerald Wright, a founding member of Parents United for Public Education, said:
"For what I've heard him say, and the fact that he has appointed people to an education office, it appears that he is serious about education.
"But I'm still waiting for the concrete plan as to how we get more more money to the educational system."
Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman, who will introduce Nutter tonight, said parental involvement at schools is welcomed and necessary.
"Parents have a right to be engaged in this process of educating their children and they should exercise it. But they can't exercise it if we turn them away," she said.
"So, the school district has a responsibility to say, 'We want you here.' "
"Parents have a right to be engaged in this process of educating their children and they should exercise it. But they can't exercise it if we turn them away," she said.
"So, the school district has a responsibility to say, 'We want you here.' "
While you're beating down $35.00 expenditures and running up charges on your own tabs, think about the people you'll need later on. The procurement card witch hunts are the most hilarious. Check out Channel 28 for the most recent installment.
Nutter: Parents, city have education roles
By MENSAH M. DEAN, Philadelphia Daily News, Posted on Thu, Sep. 11, 2008
Now that school is back in session, children should not be out after dark as so many often are, Mayor Nutter believes.
They should be at home getting help from their parents with homework, eating nutritious meals and going to bed early enough to be rested and ready for school.
Nutter, the father of a daughter in middle school, plans to say as much this evening during a back-to-basics education speech at South Philadelphia High School, Broad Street and Snyder Avenue.
"I believe that the most critical element to the success of young people in Philadelphia is what adults do," Nutter said yesterday in an interview. "Of course, their first, longest and most consistent teacher will be their parents.
"The schools - teachers, principals and administrators - have a tremendous impact. The business community as well, and certainly elected officials, all have roles to play," he added.
"So I'm going to talk to the citizens of Philadelphia about everyone's different but collective role in improving educational outcomes for kids."
Since taking office in January, Nutter has spoken frequently of two key education goals, and will stress them again this evening: to halve the 45 percent dropout rate within seven years, and to double the number of adults with college degrees over the next decade. Just 18 percent of adults in the city now have four-year degrees.
Toward the dropout goal, Nutter will announce that the school district and the city are preparing to implement an "early-warning system" to stem dropping out among 6th-graders - identified by research as a vulnerable year.
To fund that program and others for at-risk youth, the city will realign more than $200 million now used for after-school, summer and prevention programs, according to a draft of the speech provided by the mayor's office.
On the college front, Nutter will announce the creation of CollegeReady Philadelphia, which will link high-school students to college-preparation programs. Foundation funding is being sought for the program, according to the speech.
To institutions of higher learning, Nutter will propose, as he has previously, that they commit to providing 1,000 scholarships each year to graduating city high-school students.
"If we can get it together and work on our respective tasks, a decade from now, people will be talking about the Philadelphia Miracle, and we'll be more than happy to tell anyone how we did it," according to Nutter's draft.
Education-watchers said the mayor's words are admirable, but he and other city officials must continue working to get more funding for the 165,000-student district.
"He's on the right track," said Greg Wade, president of the Philadelphia Home and School Council, the largest parent group in the city. "Parents need to get involved and get their kids to school on time. But when they get there we need to make sure they are safe and they have books on those desks. That takes an investment."
Gerald Wright, a founding member of Parents United for Public Education, said:
"For what I've heard him say, and the fact that he has appointed people to an education office, it appears that he is serious about education.
"But I'm still waiting for the concrete plan as to how we get more more money to the educational system."
Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman, who will introduce Nutter tonight, said parental involvement at schools is welcomed and necessary.
"Parents have a right to be engaged in this process of educating their children and they should exercise it. But they can't exercise it if we turn them away," she said.
"So, the school district has a responsibility to say, 'We want you here.' "
Schools News Around the Blogosphere
A Good School Can Revitalize a Downtown
Wall Street Journal By KANE WEBB
Fifth and sixth grades are in the newsroom, middle school dominates the Clinton campaign's War Room, and seventh-graders have the run of the sports department.
Get Pad and Pen: The School Supply List Is Long
New York Times By LISA W. FODERARO
Many schools both poor and prosperous are asking parents to purchase more, and more particular, school supplies.
Students and Schools in Double Blow
New York Times
By SAM DILLON
While school districts struggle with financial problems, record numbers of students turning up for classes this fall are homeless or poor enough to qualify for free meals.
Charter Grade School Documents Its Success
New York Times
By WINNIE HU
One of New Jersey's first charter schools went looking for some of its first students to see if their early experience at a charter school made a difference.
Add It Up: Math Matters
Washington Post
From arithmetic to algebra and beyond, mathematics absorbs a huge amount of class time, and students are pushed to learn more math than ever -- and sooner.
Raising the Bar: How Parents Can Fix Education
The Wall Street Journal
At the start of yet another school year, it's time for some radical change in your local schools -- a specific change that only parents can bring about. What is this miracle that lies within the reach of nearly every family? It's simple. All you have to do is to start insisting that your children fully apply themselves to their studies -- and commit yourself to doing your part. That means making sure they do all the work expected of them as well as their abilities allow. It also means making sure everything at home stands behind these principles and supports the idea of learning.
Wall Street Journal By KANE WEBB
Fifth and sixth grades are in the newsroom, middle school dominates the Clinton campaign's War Room, and seventh-graders have the run of the sports department.
Get Pad and Pen: The School Supply List Is Long
New York Times By LISA W. FODERARO
Many schools both poor and prosperous are asking parents to purchase more, and more particular, school supplies.
Students and Schools in Double Blow
New York Times
By SAM DILLON
While school districts struggle with financial problems, record numbers of students turning up for classes this fall are homeless or poor enough to qualify for free meals.
Charter Grade School Documents Its Success
New York Times
By WINNIE HU
One of New Jersey's first charter schools went looking for some of its first students to see if their early experience at a charter school made a difference.
Add It Up: Math Matters
Washington Post
From arithmetic to algebra and beyond, mathematics absorbs a huge amount of class time, and students are pushed to learn more math than ever -- and sooner.
Raising the Bar: How Parents Can Fix Education
The Wall Street Journal
At the start of yet another school year, it's time for some radical change in your local schools -- a specific change that only parents can bring about. What is this miracle that lies within the reach of nearly every family? It's simple. All you have to do is to start insisting that your children fully apply themselves to their studies -- and commit yourself to doing your part. That means making sure they do all the work expected of them as well as their abilities allow. It also means making sure everything at home stands behind these principles and supports the idea of learning.
10 Coolest Small Towns
Courtesy of msnbc.com
Imagine if we had a borough council with vision AND the concerned citizenry to support any of these objectives.
Here's the top five. Check out the link to see the next five. This is what Morrisville COULD be like. Instead, we settle for less than even second best.
10 coolest small towns
updated 9:58 a.m. ET, Fri., Sept. 12, 2008
These towns all have fewer than 10,000 people—but they can rival larger cities when it comes to good food, culture, and quality of life.
1. Port Jervis, N.Y.
By Karen Tina Harrison
Population: 9,161
Nearest city: New York, 93 miles
Priced out of New York City by rising rents, many artists and shopkeepers are moving to this old railroad and canal hub on the Delaware River. "You can own a house with real character at a price that's unheard of downstate," says Mark Washburn, who opened an arts and crafts furniture store, Bungalow Antiques & Unusuals, with his partner, Billy Stephens, last year (80 Front St., 845/858-8021).
Cheap commercial real estate also attracted Gordon Graff and Debbie Raia. They started a gallery, UpFront Exhibition Space, four months ago to showcase the works of emerging artists and to host poetry and short-story readings (31 Jersey Ave., 845/856-2666, upfrontexhibitionspace.blogspot.com). The couple also owns Twenty Seven Gallery, an antiques store up the street (27 Front St., 845/856-2727).
Visitors can stay at the 1880s Erie Hotel, which has nine single rooms (9 Jersey Ave., 845/858-4100, $70). The best dining option is Restaurant at 20 Front, housed in a neoclassical former bank. Chef Daniel Weber cooks American dishes like chorizo-stuffed pork chops and butternut squash risotto (20 Front St., 845/856-8955, twentyfront.com, pork chops $24).
2. Manitou Springs, Colo.
By Sharlene Johnson
Population: 5,038
Nearest city: Colorado Springs, 6 miles
One of the things Fred Mutter loves most about Manitou Springs, where he relocated three years ago, is that its residents come from all walks of life. "There's a huge range of people who live here, from scientists and businessmen to new-age hippies," he says. "It's really an eclectic group." His store fits right in: Kinfolks Mountain Shop sells outdoor gear, but it's also a bar and live-music venue (950 Manitou Ave., 719/685-4433, kinfolksmanitou.com). In fact, you won't find any chain stores in the Victorian-era buildings crammed into the narrow valley at the foot of Pikes Peak.
WeUsOur Artists Market has unusual art on display, such as giant pottery teapots and portraits painted with coffee (10 Ruxton Ave., 719/685-9702), while Cripple Creek Dulcimers & Guitars is run by a tie-dye-wearing former mayor, Bud Ford, who bears a striking resemblance to the late Jerry Garcia (740 Manitou Ave., 719/685-9655, dulcimer.net).
At The Maté Factor café, wraps of hormone-free turkey share the menu with maté, a beverage popular in South America (966 Manitou Ave., 719/685-3235, matefactor.com, wrap $5). Last year, the town's 19th-century former bathhouse was renovated into lofts and a restaurant, Adam's Mountain Café, which offers a hodgepodge of cuisines, including African, Caribbean, and Southeast Asian (934 Manitou Ave., 719/685-1430, adamsmountain.com, jerked chicken $19).
3. Yellow Springs, Ohio
By Peter Mandel
Population: 3,675
Nearest city: Dayton, 21 miles
Yellow Springs has been a beacon for artists, activists, and creative thinkers since progressive Antioch College opened in 1852. "You can breathe here and feel very comfortable expressing yourself," says Kim Korkan, co-owner of The Winds Cafe & Bakery, which serves dishes using ingredients mostly from local farms (215 Xenia Ave., 937/767-1144, windscafe.com, rhubarb halibut $24).
Although the college was forced to close this summer because of financial problems, Yellow Springs is thriving: The main drag, Xenia Avenue, is lined with shops, cafés, restaurants, and galleries. No Common Scents sells more than 250 varieties of herbs and spices from across the globe (1525 Xenia Ave., 937/767-4261, nocommonscents.com), and Clemente Ullmer's shop, La Llama Place, is stocked with crafts from South America (224 Xenia Ave., 937/767-8650, lallamaplace.com).
Across town, the Yellow Springs Dharma Center, a Buddhist retreat draped in Tibetan prayer flags, holds meditation and chanting sessions (502 Livermore St., 937/767-9919, ysdharma.org). Public art has taken on a new meaning in the town, as well. One day, knitting appeared wrapped around a tree downtown, and soon passersby were bringing yarn to add to it. Now, the signposts up and down Xenia Avenue are covered with knitted "graffiti."
4. Mazomanie, Wis.
By Erik Torkells
Population: 1,522
Nearest city: Madison, 24 miles
"I got tired of driving through a ghost town," says Bob Brumley when asked why he founded his artists' co-op, the Iron Horse Gallery (18 E. Hudson St., 608/795-2789, ironhorsegallery.org). The co-op began in 2006 with five artists and now has 18—as well as a café, A Better Buzz. Mazo (may-zoh) is chockablock with artists, many of whom were drawn here by the historic downtown and cheap real estate. "You can't swing a stick in these hills without hitting an artist," says Brumley.
Along with galleries, Mazo boasts the Mazomanie Historic Arts Center (103 Crescent St., 608/575-9390, mazoart.com) and Mazomanie Movement Arts Center, a dance studio with a circus camp (2 Brodhead St., 608/795-0014, mazomac.com). Even the Wall Street Gallery & Bistro exhibits artwork (14 Brodhead St., 608/576-6694, wallstreetgallery.com, pastas from $15). But there's more to life than art.
You can buy Wisconsin-made souvenirs at Walter's General Store (34 Brodhead St., 608/795-4455); stay at the Walking Iron B&B, an 1865 Italianate house (21 State St., 877/572-9877, walkingiron.com, from $90); and rent bicycles at ProCycle (30 Brodhead St., 608/795-0019, procyclebikes.com). Ask politely and the staff might tell you how to get to the clothing-optional Mazo Beach—or Bare-Ass Beach, as it's known among some in town.
5. Point Reyes Station, Calif.
By Scott Hutchins
Population: 818
Nearest city: San Francisco, 39 miles
The dilemma in Point Reyes Station is what to do first: explore Point Reyes National Seashore (415/464-5100, nps.gov/pore) or just wander around and eat. At Toby's Feed Barn, second-generation owner Christian Giacomini runs a farmers market, gallery, and yoga studio, while still selling hay and salt licks. Also inside, the baristas at Toby's CoffeeBar pour cappuccinos with rippled hearts in the foam (11250 Hwy. 1, 415/663-1223, tobysfeedbarn.com).
Nearby, Cowgirl Creamery produces excellent soft-ripened cheeses, such as the Pierce Point, which is made from organic whole milk, washed in organic Riesling, and rolled in herbs (80 Fourth St., 415/663-9335, cowgirlcreamery.com). When you're ready to experience some nature, Chicago native Laurie Manarik leads hiking trips to see seal pups and conducts nighttime kayaking excursions to check out bioluminescence in nearby Tomales Bay (Point Reyes Outdoors, 11401 Hwy. 1, 415/663-8192, pointreyesoutdoors.com).
The bay's oysters, it must be said, are the best around. Eat them where locals do—up the road at The Marshall Store (19225 Hwy. 1, 415/663-1339, themarshallstore.com). The beautiful scenery may make you want to put down roots. "After my first visit after college, I spent the rest of my life figuring out how to live here," Manarik says.
Imagine if we had a borough council with vision AND the concerned citizenry to support any of these objectives.
Here's the top five. Check out the link to see the next five. This is what Morrisville COULD be like. Instead, we settle for less than even second best.
10 coolest small towns
updated 9:58 a.m. ET, Fri., Sept. 12, 2008
These towns all have fewer than 10,000 people—but they can rival larger cities when it comes to good food, culture, and quality of life.
1. Port Jervis, N.Y.
By Karen Tina Harrison
Population: 9,161
Nearest city: New York, 93 miles
Priced out of New York City by rising rents, many artists and shopkeepers are moving to this old railroad and canal hub on the Delaware River. "You can own a house with real character at a price that's unheard of downstate," says Mark Washburn, who opened an arts and crafts furniture store, Bungalow Antiques & Unusuals, with his partner, Billy Stephens, last year (80 Front St., 845/858-8021).
Cheap commercial real estate also attracted Gordon Graff and Debbie Raia. They started a gallery, UpFront Exhibition Space, four months ago to showcase the works of emerging artists and to host poetry and short-story readings (31 Jersey Ave., 845/856-2666, upfrontexhibitionspace.blogspot.com). The couple also owns Twenty Seven Gallery, an antiques store up the street (27 Front St., 845/856-2727).
Visitors can stay at the 1880s Erie Hotel, which has nine single rooms (9 Jersey Ave., 845/858-4100, $70). The best dining option is Restaurant at 20 Front, housed in a neoclassical former bank. Chef Daniel Weber cooks American dishes like chorizo-stuffed pork chops and butternut squash risotto (20 Front St., 845/856-8955, twentyfront.com, pork chops $24).
2. Manitou Springs, Colo.
By Sharlene Johnson
Population: 5,038
Nearest city: Colorado Springs, 6 miles
One of the things Fred Mutter loves most about Manitou Springs, where he relocated three years ago, is that its residents come from all walks of life. "There's a huge range of people who live here, from scientists and businessmen to new-age hippies," he says. "It's really an eclectic group." His store fits right in: Kinfolks Mountain Shop sells outdoor gear, but it's also a bar and live-music venue (950 Manitou Ave., 719/685-4433, kinfolksmanitou.com). In fact, you won't find any chain stores in the Victorian-era buildings crammed into the narrow valley at the foot of Pikes Peak.
WeUsOur Artists Market has unusual art on display, such as giant pottery teapots and portraits painted with coffee (10 Ruxton Ave., 719/685-9702), while Cripple Creek Dulcimers & Guitars is run by a tie-dye-wearing former mayor, Bud Ford, who bears a striking resemblance to the late Jerry Garcia (740 Manitou Ave., 719/685-9655, dulcimer.net).
At The Maté Factor café, wraps of hormone-free turkey share the menu with maté, a beverage popular in South America (966 Manitou Ave., 719/685-3235, matefactor.com, wrap $5). Last year, the town's 19th-century former bathhouse was renovated into lofts and a restaurant, Adam's Mountain Café, which offers a hodgepodge of cuisines, including African, Caribbean, and Southeast Asian (934 Manitou Ave., 719/685-1430, adamsmountain.com, jerked chicken $19).
3. Yellow Springs, Ohio
By Peter Mandel
Population: 3,675
Nearest city: Dayton, 21 miles
Yellow Springs has been a beacon for artists, activists, and creative thinkers since progressive Antioch College opened in 1852. "You can breathe here and feel very comfortable expressing yourself," says Kim Korkan, co-owner of The Winds Cafe & Bakery, which serves dishes using ingredients mostly from local farms (215 Xenia Ave., 937/767-1144, windscafe.com, rhubarb halibut $24).
Although the college was forced to close this summer because of financial problems, Yellow Springs is thriving: The main drag, Xenia Avenue, is lined with shops, cafés, restaurants, and galleries. No Common Scents sells more than 250 varieties of herbs and spices from across the globe (1525 Xenia Ave., 937/767-4261, nocommonscents.com), and Clemente Ullmer's shop, La Llama Place, is stocked with crafts from South America (224 Xenia Ave., 937/767-8650, lallamaplace.com).
Across town, the Yellow Springs Dharma Center, a Buddhist retreat draped in Tibetan prayer flags, holds meditation and chanting sessions (502 Livermore St., 937/767-9919, ysdharma.org). Public art has taken on a new meaning in the town, as well. One day, knitting appeared wrapped around a tree downtown, and soon passersby were bringing yarn to add to it. Now, the signposts up and down Xenia Avenue are covered with knitted "graffiti."
4. Mazomanie, Wis.
By Erik Torkells
Population: 1,522
Nearest city: Madison, 24 miles
"I got tired of driving through a ghost town," says Bob Brumley when asked why he founded his artists' co-op, the Iron Horse Gallery (18 E. Hudson St., 608/795-2789, ironhorsegallery.org). The co-op began in 2006 with five artists and now has 18—as well as a café, A Better Buzz. Mazo (may-zoh) is chockablock with artists, many of whom were drawn here by the historic downtown and cheap real estate. "You can't swing a stick in these hills without hitting an artist," says Brumley.
Along with galleries, Mazo boasts the Mazomanie Historic Arts Center (103 Crescent St., 608/575-9390, mazoart.com) and Mazomanie Movement Arts Center, a dance studio with a circus camp (2 Brodhead St., 608/795-0014, mazomac.com). Even the Wall Street Gallery & Bistro exhibits artwork (14 Brodhead St., 608/576-6694, wallstreetgallery.com, pastas from $15). But there's more to life than art.
You can buy Wisconsin-made souvenirs at Walter's General Store (34 Brodhead St., 608/795-4455); stay at the Walking Iron B&B, an 1865 Italianate house (21 State St., 877/572-9877, walkingiron.com, from $90); and rent bicycles at ProCycle (30 Brodhead St., 608/795-0019, procyclebikes.com). Ask politely and the staff might tell you how to get to the clothing-optional Mazo Beach—or Bare-Ass Beach, as it's known among some in town.
5. Point Reyes Station, Calif.
By Scott Hutchins
Population: 818
Nearest city: San Francisco, 39 miles
The dilemma in Point Reyes Station is what to do first: explore Point Reyes National Seashore (415/464-5100, nps.gov/pore) or just wander around and eat. At Toby's Feed Barn, second-generation owner Christian Giacomini runs a farmers market, gallery, and yoga studio, while still selling hay and salt licks. Also inside, the baristas at Toby's CoffeeBar pour cappuccinos with rippled hearts in the foam (11250 Hwy. 1, 415/663-1223, tobysfeedbarn.com).
Nearby, Cowgirl Creamery produces excellent soft-ripened cheeses, such as the Pierce Point, which is made from organic whole milk, washed in organic Riesling, and rolled in herbs (80 Fourth St., 415/663-9335, cowgirlcreamery.com). When you're ready to experience some nature, Chicago native Laurie Manarik leads hiking trips to see seal pups and conducts nighttime kayaking excursions to check out bioluminescence in nearby Tomales Bay (Point Reyes Outdoors, 11401 Hwy. 1, 415/663-8192, pointreyesoutdoors.com).
The bay's oysters, it must be said, are the best around. Eat them where locals do—up the road at The Marshall Store (19225 Hwy. 1, 415/663-1339, themarshallstore.com). The beautiful scenery may make you want to put down roots. "After my first visit after college, I spent the rest of my life figuring out how to live here," Manarik says.
“But that’s politics in this area.”
From the BCCT today. I regretfully expect that in the not too far distant future, an article similar to this will use the words "Morrisville" and "Yonson".
Superintendent finalist for job
Neshaminy’s superintendent appears to be the lone finalist for an identical position in Connecticut, and he says he plans to continue his job hunt.
“It is important that both the superintendent and board share similar expectations and priorities, and lacking those similarities, it is in my and the board’s best interest that I move on to another school district,” Paul Kadri said in an e-mail Friday.
On Tuesday, Kadri, 43, notified the school board he is a superintendent finalist in the 5,200-student Groton Public School district, roughly half the size of Neshaminy.
No details were available Friday. Groton board members are planning to visit Neshaminy on Monday, according to a Connecticut newspaper.
Earlier this year, Kadri was a finalist for a superintendent position in Michigan.
The district hired Kadri in 2006 under a four-year contract. His salary last year was $170,000.
“I have tremendous respect for all who make up the Neshaminy community,” he wrote in the e-mail. “Over the past two-plus years, we have been able to achieve much success in helping to strengthen the present condition of the school system and position it for success in the future.
Recently, Kadri has expressed frustration with board members over what he described as a lack of direction and job expectations.
Kadri said he and the school board regret the process of his seeking a job in another district will become public. He assured his job hunt will not become a “detrimental distraction” to the district.
Board member William O’Connor said he’s saddened Kadri feels he must leave.
“Despite being successful in his job and having tremendous community support, Mr. Kadri has been undermined in his efforts for the past two years,” O’Connor said. “But that’s politics in this area.”
Superintendent finalist for job
Neshaminy’s superintendent appears to be the lone finalist for an identical position in Connecticut, and he says he plans to continue his job hunt.
“It is important that both the superintendent and board share similar expectations and priorities, and lacking those similarities, it is in my and the board’s best interest that I move on to another school district,” Paul Kadri said in an e-mail Friday.
On Tuesday, Kadri, 43, notified the school board he is a superintendent finalist in the 5,200-student Groton Public School district, roughly half the size of Neshaminy.
No details were available Friday. Groton board members are planning to visit Neshaminy on Monday, according to a Connecticut newspaper.
Earlier this year, Kadri was a finalist for a superintendent position in Michigan.
The district hired Kadri in 2006 under a four-year contract. His salary last year was $170,000.
“I have tremendous respect for all who make up the Neshaminy community,” he wrote in the e-mail. “Over the past two-plus years, we have been able to achieve much success in helping to strengthen the present condition of the school system and position it for success in the future.
Recently, Kadri has expressed frustration with board members over what he described as a lack of direction and job expectations.
Kadri said he and the school board regret the process of his seeking a job in another district will become public. He assured his job hunt will not become a “detrimental distraction” to the district.
Board member William O’Connor said he’s saddened Kadri feels he must leave.
“Despite being successful in his job and having tremendous community support, Mr. Kadri has been undermined in his efforts for the past two years,” O’Connor said. “But that’s politics in this area.”
Friday, September 12, 2008
Comic Relief
Thanks to the emailer who noticed this story. It explains the school board pretty well.
'Emperor' arrested in court
by The Associated Press
Friday September 12, 2008, 10:03 AM
The Trenton man who calls himself Emperor El Bey is not making diplomatic immunity claims to authorities after his latest arrest.
The emperor, known to authorities as William McRae, has been bickering with authorities who say he can't keep horses in his backyard. He says the laws don't apply to him because his home is an embassy of something called the Abannaki Aboriginal Nation.
Bey was arrested Wednesday while appearing in municipal court in Bordentown.
He is charged with driving without a license and other offenses. Authorities also say he also owes three women more than $50,000 in child support.
For now, he's in the Mercer County Jail.
'Emperor' arrested in court
by The Associated Press
Friday September 12, 2008, 10:03 AM
The Trenton man who calls himself Emperor El Bey is not making diplomatic immunity claims to authorities after his latest arrest.
The emperor, known to authorities as William McRae, has been bickering with authorities who say he can't keep horses in his backyard. He says the laws don't apply to him because his home is an embassy of something called the Abannaki Aboriginal Nation.
Bey was arrested Wednesday while appearing in municipal court in Bordentown.
He is charged with driving without a license and other offenses. Authorities also say he also owes three women more than $50,000 in child support.
For now, he's in the Mercer County Jail.
Neshaminy isn’t ‘flunking’
From the BCCT. How odd to see a school board member defending their district...
Neshaminy isn’t ‘flunking’; overall performance is strong
I was very disappointed to see the Courier Times headline on Aug 15 proclaiming that the Neshaminy School District “flunked” goals related to state PSSA exams and the No Child Left Behind Act. It is obvious from both the headline and the article itself that the newspaper was trying to generate controversy; but it reflected a deep misunderstanding of the meaning of the districtwide AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) designations.
If a District “makes AYP” in one year, but does not do so the following year, its AYP status is changed to “Warning”; this is what happened in Neshaminy. If you had taken the time to look on the Pennsylvania AYP Web site (www.paayp.com), you would have found that this is not meant to indicate “passing” or “failing” (or “flunking”), but is better thought of as a flag that tells the district to look more carefully at specific areas that may warrant attention.
In Neshaminy’s case, we had several individual schools where small groups of special education students did not pass at sufficient rates, particularly in the Reading area. Consequently, we are undertaking new initiatives this year across the District, including reorganization and expansion of our reading coach program, and implementation of a K-12 writing program.
To see how unrelated AYP status is to overall district performance, consider the following:
Based on our combined District Math and Reading scores, in 2007 Neshaminy would be ranked 142nd out of 500 districts statewide, and we “made AYP”. In 2008, Neshaminy raised its combined scores and would be ranked 10 spots higher (132nd), but we failed to make AYP.
In 2007, Neshaminy’s combined scores were lower than Pennsbury’s and Centennial’s; all three districts made AYP. In 2008, Neshaminy’s combined scores were higher than Pennsbury’s and Centennial’s, but both of those districts “made AYP” while Neshaminy did not.
Downingtown is one of the top performing school districts in the state, ranking 36th out of 500 (93rd percentile) based on its combined scores in 2008, but did not make AYP.
Bensalem School District’s combined scores are ranked 345th out of 500, and the district made AYP.
Bristol Township School District’s combined scores are ranked 431st out of 500, and the District made AYP.
The point is not to judge any individual district’s performance. Instead, what this all makes clear is that district AYP status often has very little to do with overall performance on the PSSA exams. Certainly Neshaminy can do better, and we will continue to strive to improve our test results. But maybe next time the Courier Times will take just a little bit of time to look at what’s really happening, rather than printing misleading headlines that are worthy of the National Enquirer. Such irresponsible journalism not only fails to educate the public, but it plays into the hands of those who look to further political agendas rather than support efforts to improve our schools.
WILLIAM SPITZ
Middletown, is a member of the Neshaminy school board
Editor’s note: Use of the word “flunked” in the headline accurately reflected the school district’s “failure” to meet AYP goals.
Neshaminy isn’t ‘flunking’; overall performance is strong
I was very disappointed to see the Courier Times headline on Aug 15 proclaiming that the Neshaminy School District “flunked” goals related to state PSSA exams and the No Child Left Behind Act. It is obvious from both the headline and the article itself that the newspaper was trying to generate controversy; but it reflected a deep misunderstanding of the meaning of the districtwide AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) designations.
If a District “makes AYP” in one year, but does not do so the following year, its AYP status is changed to “Warning”; this is what happened in Neshaminy. If you had taken the time to look on the Pennsylvania AYP Web site (www.paayp.com), you would have found that this is not meant to indicate “passing” or “failing” (or “flunking”), but is better thought of as a flag that tells the district to look more carefully at specific areas that may warrant attention.
In Neshaminy’s case, we had several individual schools where small groups of special education students did not pass at sufficient rates, particularly in the Reading area. Consequently, we are undertaking new initiatives this year across the District, including reorganization and expansion of our reading coach program, and implementation of a K-12 writing program.
To see how unrelated AYP status is to overall district performance, consider the following:
Based on our combined District Math and Reading scores, in 2007 Neshaminy would be ranked 142nd out of 500 districts statewide, and we “made AYP”. In 2008, Neshaminy raised its combined scores and would be ranked 10 spots higher (132nd), but we failed to make AYP.
In 2007, Neshaminy’s combined scores were lower than Pennsbury’s and Centennial’s; all three districts made AYP. In 2008, Neshaminy’s combined scores were higher than Pennsbury’s and Centennial’s, but both of those districts “made AYP” while Neshaminy did not.
Downingtown is one of the top performing school districts in the state, ranking 36th out of 500 (93rd percentile) based on its combined scores in 2008, but did not make AYP.
Bensalem School District’s combined scores are ranked 345th out of 500, and the district made AYP.
Bristol Township School District’s combined scores are ranked 431st out of 500, and the District made AYP.
The point is not to judge any individual district’s performance. Instead, what this all makes clear is that district AYP status often has very little to do with overall performance on the PSSA exams. Certainly Neshaminy can do better, and we will continue to strive to improve our test results. But maybe next time the Courier Times will take just a little bit of time to look at what’s really happening, rather than printing misleading headlines that are worthy of the National Enquirer. Such irresponsible journalism not only fails to educate the public, but it plays into the hands of those who look to further political agendas rather than support efforts to improve our schools.
WILLIAM SPITZ
Middletown, is a member of the Neshaminy school board
Editor’s note: Use of the word “flunked” in the headline accurately reflected the school district’s “failure” to meet AYP goals.
Local School Honored
From the Philadelphia Daily News. This is the US DOE's Blue Ribbon School Award. One of the schools honored was St. John the Evangelist School in Morrisville.
Schools are selected based on one of two criteria: those with at least 40 percent of their students from low-income families that dramatically improve student performance to high levels on state tests; and those whose students, regardless of background, achieve in the top 10 percent of their state on standardized tests.
Feds honor 2 city schools for achievement
By MENSAH M. DEAN, Posted on Wed, Sep. 10, 2008
Two Philadelphia schools were among 320 schools nationwide that U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings yesterday named "2008 No Child Left Behind - Blue Ribbon Schools."
Russell Conwell Middle School in Kensington and George Washington Carver High School of Engineering and Science in North Philly were among those honored for the high level of achievement of their students.
"These Blue Ribbon Schools are an example of what teachers and students can achieve," Spellings said in a statement. "Now our challenge is to help other schools follow their lead."
For the past 26 years, the federal award has been given to public and private elementary, middle and high schools that are academically superior or that demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement.
Schools are selected based on one of two criteria: those with at least 40 percent of their students from low-income families that dramatically improve student performance to high levels on state tests; and those whose students, regardless of background, achieve in the top 10 percent of their state on standardized tests.
Other area schools honored are Chadds Ford Elementary School; St. Aloysius Academy, in Bryn Mawr; and St. John the Evangelist School in Morrisville, Bucks County.
Each schools' principal and a guest will be invited to Washington, D.C., for a ceremony Oct. 20-21 at which they will receive a plaque and flag signifying their Blue Ribbon status. *
Schools are selected based on one of two criteria: those with at least 40 percent of their students from low-income families that dramatically improve student performance to high levels on state tests; and those whose students, regardless of background, achieve in the top 10 percent of their state on standardized tests.
Feds honor 2 city schools for achievement
By MENSAH M. DEAN, Posted on Wed, Sep. 10, 2008
Two Philadelphia schools were among 320 schools nationwide that U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings yesterday named "2008 No Child Left Behind - Blue Ribbon Schools."
Russell Conwell Middle School in Kensington and George Washington Carver High School of Engineering and Science in North Philly were among those honored for the high level of achievement of their students.
"These Blue Ribbon Schools are an example of what teachers and students can achieve," Spellings said in a statement. "Now our challenge is to help other schools follow their lead."
For the past 26 years, the federal award has been given to public and private elementary, middle and high schools that are academically superior or that demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement.
Schools are selected based on one of two criteria: those with at least 40 percent of their students from low-income families that dramatically improve student performance to high levels on state tests; and those whose students, regardless of background, achieve in the top 10 percent of their state on standardized tests.
Other area schools honored are Chadds Ford Elementary School; St. Aloysius Academy, in Bryn Mawr; and St. John the Evangelist School in Morrisville, Bucks County.
Each schools' principal and a guest will be invited to Washington, D.C., for a ceremony Oct. 20-21 at which they will receive a plaque and flag signifying their Blue Ribbon status. *
Stunning achievement gap in Phila schools
From the Inquirer
SRC stunned by achievement gap in Phila schools
By Kristen A. Graham, Posted on Wed, Sep. 10, 2008
Philadelphia School District officials have known they had an achievement gap on their hands for years.
Today, they saw the raw data, and were collectively horrified.
One in 10 white students is classified as mentally gifted; just 3 in 100 black students are.
Black and Latino students make up 79 percent of the district's 165,000 students, but make up just 54 percent of students in the district's prestigious magnet schools. Those groups make up 90 percent of all children labeled "emotionally disturbed," and most of the students at the district's lowest-performing schools.
"Steady progress is not enough," said new superintendent Arlene Ackerman, who has told district employees they must accelerate their efforts to help students. "Why do you think I'm talking about urgency?"
School Reform Commission member James Gallagher said the numbers were "extremely disturbing, but very important."
Each school will receive data on its own specific gaps, and principals will have to meet performance targets tied to narrowing them, Ackerman said. The district will also conduct professional development, and has already earmarked $12 million in resources for the lowest-performing schools.
Ackerman, who came to the district three months ago, has said she will introduce a weighted student funding formula that gives more money to schools that educate certain students, such as special education or low-income pupils.
To counter low participation rates and low scores on the SAT and PSAT, Ackerman and commission chair Sandra Dungee Glenn said the district would also find $163,608 to pay for every student to take the exams. The district has paid for the exams in the past but in recent years, that money was cut.
The superintendent also took aim at some of the district's special admittance schools. She said she can't understand why the Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush, which opened last week in Northeast Philadelphia, requires students not only to audition but also score in the 85th percentile on state exams.
"We know the numbers of African American and Latino students who are scoring at that level," Ackerman said. "We are keeping these people out."
Meanwhile, on a visit to the Kensington Creative and Performing Arts Academy, Ackerman discovered the students there have no art classrooms or place to dance.
Ackerman, who said she was not targeting all special admittance schools, was not sure who in her central office made the decision on admittance criteria. But she said she would ask the School Reform Commission to revisit the criteria in the near future.
"We have lots of inequities that are causing these numbers," Ackerman said of the achievement gap.
Also at the commission meeting, members of the Germantown High community highlighted problems at that school.
The school has had four principals in four years, most recently losing Michael Silverman, who had earned the respect of the community, when Ackerman tapped him to be a regional superintendent.
Students did not have rosters on the first day of school, a glitch that will take weeks to sort out. Rev. Bryant Robinson, a member of the Germantown Clergy Initiative, was there on the first day.
"It was dysfunctional. It was chaos," Robinson said. Students were roaming the halls, unsure where to go, he said.
Ackerman said she had monitored the rostering situation before school began, and apologized for the chaos. She said it's a problem that schools don't begin scheduling students until August. Rosters should be sent home by July, she said.
Rev. Kevin Porter, another member of the clergy group, said he was most concerned by Silverman's abrupt departure, and that the community, which had input on the last two principal searches, was not consulted.
"So much of what makes a principal's success is relationships," Porter said, adding that Silverman quickly won over the community by building strong relationships.
Ackerman admitted she made a mistake in removing Silverman. She said does not regret moving Silverman, but said she should have left him at Germantown until a permanent principal was selected.
The final issue the clergy raised was a lack of African American teachers at Germantown, a predominately black school. An old school district policy still in place means that there are caps to how many black teachers can work at one school.
Two qualified African American male teacher candidates were turned away from Germantown because it had already reached its quota of black teachers, the clergy said.
The policy was devised to keep racial balance at a time when black teachers were effectively kept out of white schools, but now, it is blocking student achievement, officials said.
"This is crazy," Ackerman said. "I pledge to you to bring back to the SRC a policy that will change this."
SRC stunned by achievement gap in Phila schools
By Kristen A. Graham, Posted on Wed, Sep. 10, 2008
Philadelphia School District officials have known they had an achievement gap on their hands for years.
Today, they saw the raw data, and were collectively horrified.
One in 10 white students is classified as mentally gifted; just 3 in 100 black students are.
Black and Latino students make up 79 percent of the district's 165,000 students, but make up just 54 percent of students in the district's prestigious magnet schools. Those groups make up 90 percent of all children labeled "emotionally disturbed," and most of the students at the district's lowest-performing schools.
"Steady progress is not enough," said new superintendent Arlene Ackerman, who has told district employees they must accelerate their efforts to help students. "Why do you think I'm talking about urgency?"
School Reform Commission member James Gallagher said the numbers were "extremely disturbing, but very important."
Each school will receive data on its own specific gaps, and principals will have to meet performance targets tied to narrowing them, Ackerman said. The district will also conduct professional development, and has already earmarked $12 million in resources for the lowest-performing schools.
Ackerman, who came to the district three months ago, has said she will introduce a weighted student funding formula that gives more money to schools that educate certain students, such as special education or low-income pupils.
To counter low participation rates and low scores on the SAT and PSAT, Ackerman and commission chair Sandra Dungee Glenn said the district would also find $163,608 to pay for every student to take the exams. The district has paid for the exams in the past but in recent years, that money was cut.
The superintendent also took aim at some of the district's special admittance schools. She said she can't understand why the Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush, which opened last week in Northeast Philadelphia, requires students not only to audition but also score in the 85th percentile on state exams.
"We know the numbers of African American and Latino students who are scoring at that level," Ackerman said. "We are keeping these people out."
Meanwhile, on a visit to the Kensington Creative and Performing Arts Academy, Ackerman discovered the students there have no art classrooms or place to dance.
Ackerman, who said she was not targeting all special admittance schools, was not sure who in her central office made the decision on admittance criteria. But she said she would ask the School Reform Commission to revisit the criteria in the near future.
"We have lots of inequities that are causing these numbers," Ackerman said of the achievement gap.
Also at the commission meeting, members of the Germantown High community highlighted problems at that school.
The school has had four principals in four years, most recently losing Michael Silverman, who had earned the respect of the community, when Ackerman tapped him to be a regional superintendent.
Students did not have rosters on the first day of school, a glitch that will take weeks to sort out. Rev. Bryant Robinson, a member of the Germantown Clergy Initiative, was there on the first day.
"It was dysfunctional. It was chaos," Robinson said. Students were roaming the halls, unsure where to go, he said.
Ackerman said she had monitored the rostering situation before school began, and apologized for the chaos. She said it's a problem that schools don't begin scheduling students until August. Rosters should be sent home by July, she said.
Rev. Kevin Porter, another member of the clergy group, said he was most concerned by Silverman's abrupt departure, and that the community, which had input on the last two principal searches, was not consulted.
"So much of what makes a principal's success is relationships," Porter said, adding that Silverman quickly won over the community by building strong relationships.
Ackerman admitted she made a mistake in removing Silverman. She said does not regret moving Silverman, but said she should have left him at Germantown until a permanent principal was selected.
The final issue the clergy raised was a lack of African American teachers at Germantown, a predominately black school. An old school district policy still in place means that there are caps to how many black teachers can work at one school.
Two qualified African American male teacher candidates were turned away from Germantown because it had already reached its quota of black teachers, the clergy said.
The policy was devised to keep racial balance at a time when black teachers were effectively kept out of white schools, but now, it is blocking student achievement, officials said.
"This is crazy," Ackerman said. "I pledge to you to bring back to the SRC a policy that will change this."
Thursday, September 11, 2008
9/11 +7
From the BCCT
Reflecting on a tragedy
A memorial service marking the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks will be held at the Garden of Reflection this morning.
By CHRIS ENGLISH
After losing her husband in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Lower Makefield resident Ellen Saracini needed outlets for her grief and anger.
She found a big one in the Garden of Reflection Bucks County Sept. 11 Memorial. Located in Memorial Park at 1950 Woodside Road in Lower Makefield, the Garden will host a public ceremony marking the seventh anniversary of the attacks starting at 8:46 a.m. today.
For Saracini, whose husband, Victor, was the pilot on one of the planes hijacked by terrorists and flown into New York’s World Trade Center, it will be another chance to reflect on and appreciate the project that has occupied so much of her time and energy since that tragic day.
The Garden of Reflection was dedicated Sept. 30, 2006. But a committee, which includes Saracini and several others who lost loved ones in the attack seven years ago, continues to raise money for additions and maintenance.
“The Garden met every expectation I ever had,” Saracini said. “It brings in all the elements. In the beginning, you see the fragments from the Trade Center wreckage. Then, you come to the fountains and feel revived and that life can go on. The whole thing was such a senseless tragedy, but I think you can see from coming to the Garden that good prevails.”
Soon after the attacks, Saracini and others formed a committee to raise money and plan the Garden of Reflection. Other members included former Lower Makefield Supervisor Grace Godshalk, who lost her son William in the attacks, and township resident Tara Bane, who lost her husband, Michael.
Using a large federal grant and numerous fundraisers, the group raised more than $1 million for construction of the memorial and continues fundraising for maintenance and adding elements to the Garden.
Designed by Lower Makefield architect Liuba Laschcyk, the Garden of Reflection includes a statue made of steel beams and other wreckage from the Trade Center. There’s a pool with two fountains representing the twin towers of the World Trade Center that were destroyed in the attacks, along with the inscribed names of the 2,973 victims. The names of the 18 Bucks County victims are inscribed in bigger letters on a railing surrounding the pool.
Since the dedication, the committee has raised money for several additions to the Garden of Reflection. They include a 135-plant arboretum and memorial benches with epitaphs for the Bucks County victims. Several other benches sit near the Garden and were donated by various area residents in memory of loved ones.
Saracini said the committee is working on security cameras for the Garden, and with Verizon for wireless Internet access, which would allow people to work on laptop computers while sitting in the Garden. All Garden of Reflection expenses are handled by the committee, though the bidding process goes through Lower Makefield since the memorial is on township land.
Saracini is also working with state Rep. Dave Steil, R-31, and PennDOT on obtaining signs to be placed along I-95 and other nearby roadways directing visitors to the Garden.
Countless individuals, organizations and businesses have donated and continue to donate money, labor and materials for the Garden of Reflection, Saracini said.
Realty Landscaping of Wrightstown provides maintenance at a drastically discounted rate of about $13,000 a year, she said. To get an idea of how big a discount that is, one firm submitted a bid of about $30,000 a year.
“Realty also donated a lot of plants,” she said. “The people there just feel a real heartfelt commitment to keeping the Garden looking beautiful, and so they do it for a lot less money than they could charge.”
A 2006 estimate from the Bucks County Conference and Visitors Bureau indicates the Garden of Reflection gets about 100,000 visitors a year. Saracini said she hopes visitors steadily increase as the 62-acre township park surrounding the Garden is developed. So far, Memorial Park includes volleyball and basketball courts, and the township supervisors recently awarded a contract for construction of a softball field.
“We’ve found that after people visit the Garden of Reflection once, they keep coming back,” said Saracini. “People tell us they are thrilled to come to a place where they can feel so respectful and yet so relaxed. They feel at peace sitting in the Garden. The comments are always that it’s beautiful.”
For more information on the Garden of Reflection, call 215-493-3646 or visit www.9-11MemorialGarden.org on the Web.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
DVHS opens Bucks Campus
From the BCCT.
New school for at-risk students opens
The Delaware Valley High School, a private alternative school for at-risk students celebrated its grand opening with a reception and open house Monday.
The school, which will educate approximately 250 students this year, is a branch of a campus that has operated in the Bustleton section of Philadelphia for almost 40 years.
DVHS contracts with school districts to educate students and takes referrals from families. The new campus includes a 25,000-square-foot facility on 4 acres off Jacksonville Road. It will serve students in Bucks and Montgomery counties. The Bustleton location will provide services to Philadelphia students exclusively.
The high school educates each student for $8,750 per year and boasts a teacher-student ratio of 17-to-1. It works with a technical institute, psychological center and service organization to steer students toward a vocational school or college education.
“We're going to facilitate that the moment they arrive,” said Davie Shulick, DVHS president. “What we're trying to teach these kids is how important education is and how important civic responsibility is.”
Shulick said the DVHS student-management services software was designed by school administrators to track every student's emotional and behavioral issues and automate a report that is forwarded to parents and school districts.
DVHS has a 93 percent graduation rate, a figure that includes 24 William Tennent High School students referred by the school district in the last three years.
New school for at-risk students opens
The Delaware Valley High School, a private alternative school for at-risk students celebrated its grand opening with a reception and open house Monday.
The school, which will educate approximately 250 students this year, is a branch of a campus that has operated in the Bustleton section of Philadelphia for almost 40 years.
DVHS contracts with school districts to educate students and takes referrals from families. The new campus includes a 25,000-square-foot facility on 4 acres off Jacksonville Road. It will serve students in Bucks and Montgomery counties. The Bustleton location will provide services to Philadelphia students exclusively.
The high school educates each student for $8,750 per year and boasts a teacher-student ratio of 17-to-1. It works with a technical institute, psychological center and service organization to steer students toward a vocational school or college education.
“We're going to facilitate that the moment they arrive,” said Davie Shulick, DVHS president. “What we're trying to teach these kids is how important education is and how important civic responsibility is.”
Shulick said the DVHS student-management services software was designed by school administrators to track every student's emotional and behavioral issues and automate a report that is forwarded to parents and school districts.
DVHS has a 93 percent graduation rate, a figure that includes 24 William Tennent High School students referred by the school district in the last three years.
An update on the Souderton strike from thereporteronline.com
Teachers walk the line, By Dan Sokil 09/10/2008
The second week of the Souderton Area Education Association's strike has brought some changes to where the district's teachers are walking the picket lines, and Tuesday's showers brought a bit of an interruption, too.
"Today, because of the hazardous weather condition, we had to cancel our picketing; it wasn't able to take place because of the weather," said SAEA president Bill Lukridge on Tuesday.
The soaking rainfall that started around 10 a.m. caused teachers on those picket lines to pack up their strike signs and seek shelter, but only from four strategic sites due to a change in picket policy.
"We are now picketing four major spots: the high school, Franconia Elementary, Indian Valley Middle School, and West Broad Street," Lukridge said, "because they appear to be getting the most traffic, and we want to make the most obvious presence we can."
Last Tuesday when the strike began, teachers picketed at all nine district public schools, and the construction site of the future Souderton Area High School, but not this week.
"We were out there one day, where the new high school is under construction, but we found out that most of the laborers there were non-union and were not going to honor our picket line anyway," said Lukridge.
Teachers are out on the picket lines in three different shifts from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., but if bad weather like Tuesday's rain storms happens, they are free to seek safety.
"There are no rules about the number of days we have to be out there, just as long as we're picketing because we're on strike," Lukridge said.
"Regarding being on the school property, there are some laws we can't violate, but as far as picketing there are no laws that we are aware of," he said.
And if their numbers look a little smaller than that 448-17 strike vote taken two Thursdays ago, that's because teachers are up to other things too.
"Other teachers are performing non-picketing tasks, such as communications. We have a task force committee that has multiple jobs in it, and some of our members who are not out on the strike lines are members of our settlement task force, who are trying to get information out to people," Lukridge said.
Some of those committee members have been helping update the SAEA's Web site,
www.saea.info, which now features a Q&A section, salary and health-care facts, and updates on negotiation progress.
"Let's face it, we're at a disadvantage here. We don't have a public TV channel like the school district has, we don't have the opportunity to mail to everybody in the district, we don't have that database, so what we have to do is try to get that information out in other ways," Lukridge said.
For example, Lukridge said that statistics provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Education show that the district collects the sixth-highest tax revenue in Montgomery County, but spends the least per student of the 22 county school districts.
"We can prove our side of the story by the PDE information," Lukridge said. "This is incontrovertible, the numbers that the school district has to supply to the PDE, and we're hoping that people can have that information that will back our position, or their position."
Are they seeing much support from the public? From some, but not from all, he said.
"We have bashers and we have backers, there are people who are supportive and people who aren't," he said.
"Striking is never a pleasant thing, and it's not what we really set out to do, but we think it's necessary to get us past this labor impasse," Lukridge said.
Teachers walk the line, By Dan Sokil 09/10/2008
The second week of the Souderton Area Education Association's strike has brought some changes to where the district's teachers are walking the picket lines, and Tuesday's showers brought a bit of an interruption, too.
"Today, because of the hazardous weather condition, we had to cancel our picketing; it wasn't able to take place because of the weather," said SAEA president Bill Lukridge on Tuesday.
The soaking rainfall that started around 10 a.m. caused teachers on those picket lines to pack up their strike signs and seek shelter, but only from four strategic sites due to a change in picket policy.
"We are now picketing four major spots: the high school, Franconia Elementary, Indian Valley Middle School, and West Broad Street," Lukridge said, "because they appear to be getting the most traffic, and we want to make the most obvious presence we can."
Last Tuesday when the strike began, teachers picketed at all nine district public schools, and the construction site of the future Souderton Area High School, but not this week.
"We were out there one day, where the new high school is under construction, but we found out that most of the laborers there were non-union and were not going to honor our picket line anyway," said Lukridge.
Teachers are out on the picket lines in three different shifts from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., but if bad weather like Tuesday's rain storms happens, they are free to seek safety.
"There are no rules about the number of days we have to be out there, just as long as we're picketing because we're on strike," Lukridge said.
"Regarding being on the school property, there are some laws we can't violate, but as far as picketing there are no laws that we are aware of," he said.
And if their numbers look a little smaller than that 448-17 strike vote taken two Thursdays ago, that's because teachers are up to other things too.
"Other teachers are performing non-picketing tasks, such as communications. We have a task force committee that has multiple jobs in it, and some of our members who are not out on the strike lines are members of our settlement task force, who are trying to get information out to people," Lukridge said.
Some of those committee members have been helping update the SAEA's Web site,
www.saea.info, which now features a Q&A section, salary and health-care facts, and updates on negotiation progress.
"Let's face it, we're at a disadvantage here. We don't have a public TV channel like the school district has, we don't have the opportunity to mail to everybody in the district, we don't have that database, so what we have to do is try to get that information out in other ways," Lukridge said.
For example, Lukridge said that statistics provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Education show that the district collects the sixth-highest tax revenue in Montgomery County, but spends the least per student of the 22 county school districts.
"We can prove our side of the story by the PDE information," Lukridge said. "This is incontrovertible, the numbers that the school district has to supply to the PDE, and we're hoping that people can have that information that will back our position, or their position."
Are they seeing much support from the public? From some, but not from all, he said.
"We have bashers and we have backers, there are people who are supportive and people who aren't," he said.
"Striking is never a pleasant thing, and it's not what we really set out to do, but we think it's necessary to get us past this labor impasse," Lukridge said.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Ban Teacher Strikes?
From publicopiniononline.com
Pennsylvania bill to ban strikes by teachers stalls
By RICHARD FELLINGER Public Opinion Harrisburg Bureau
HARRISBURG -- Teachers in three Pennsylvania school districts have hit the picket line so far this school year, but that won't be enough to convince state lawmakers that school strikes should be banned.
Bills to prohibit teacher strikes remain stuck in the Legislature with no apparent plans to move them.
Supporters of a ban say it's because teachers' unions exert too much control over lawmakers.
Critics of a ban say the bills languish because a majority of lawmakers realize teachers need a last resort to negotiate fair pay and benefits.
The only teachers to strike this year in central Pennsylvania were in Franklin County's Tuscarora School District. They began striking Sept. 2, but a tentative deal struck on Sunday will send them back to work today.
Teachers in Montgomery County's Souderton Area School District walked out last week and remain on strike. Teachers in Allegheny County's Duquesne City School District struck for three days last week before settling and heading back to work.
Rep. Todd Rock, R-Mont Alto, authored a bill to ban school strikes and said dozens of people contacted him inquiring about the status of it during the Tuscarora strike. He blames the power wielded by teachers' unions.
"It's not an easy fight to win, but I think it's the right thing to do for the schoolchildren," Rock said.
His bill is expected to die when the legislative term ends in November, but he promised to re-introduce it in the new term that begins in January.
A spokesman for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the state's largest teachers' union, said they have as much of a right to participate in the legislative process as anyone, and the legislation to ban strikes "fails a basic test of fairness."
PSEA spokesman Wythe Keever said banning strikes would give school boards the advantage when negotiating teacher contracts.
"It's in the interest of all Pennsylvanians to have adequately paid, fairly paid teachers," Keever said.
Rock's bill would ban strikes and settle contract disputes through a process involving public disclosure of contract proposals, non-binding arbitrations and regular town hall meetings.
Rep. Bob Bastion, R-Somerset, has introduced companion legislation that would put language banning strikes in the state constitution.
Senate Minority Leader Robert Mellow, D-Lackawanna, has sponsored a bill that would ban strikes but calls for a different process for settling disputes.
Mellow's plan would require both sides to submit their last best offer to a county Common Pleas judge, who would pick one of the two plans.
Teacher strikes this year in Pa.
- Tuscarora School District, Franklin County. Teachers due back today after striking last week.
- Souderton Area School District, Montgomery County. Teachers still on strike.
- Duquesne City School District, Allegheny County. Teachers back at work after striking last week.
Pennsylvania bill to ban strikes by teachers stalls
By RICHARD FELLINGER Public Opinion Harrisburg Bureau
HARRISBURG -- Teachers in three Pennsylvania school districts have hit the picket line so far this school year, but that won't be enough to convince state lawmakers that school strikes should be banned.
Bills to prohibit teacher strikes remain stuck in the Legislature with no apparent plans to move them.
Supporters of a ban say it's because teachers' unions exert too much control over lawmakers.
Critics of a ban say the bills languish because a majority of lawmakers realize teachers need a last resort to negotiate fair pay and benefits.
The only teachers to strike this year in central Pennsylvania were in Franklin County's Tuscarora School District. They began striking Sept. 2, but a tentative deal struck on Sunday will send them back to work today.
Teachers in Montgomery County's Souderton Area School District walked out last week and remain on strike. Teachers in Allegheny County's Duquesne City School District struck for three days last week before settling and heading back to work.
Rep. Todd Rock, R-Mont Alto, authored a bill to ban school strikes and said dozens of people contacted him inquiring about the status of it during the Tuscarora strike. He blames the power wielded by teachers' unions.
"It's not an easy fight to win, but I think it's the right thing to do for the schoolchildren," Rock said.
His bill is expected to die when the legislative term ends in November, but he promised to re-introduce it in the new term that begins in January.
A spokesman for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the state's largest teachers' union, said they have as much of a right to participate in the legislative process as anyone, and the legislation to ban strikes "fails a basic test of fairness."
PSEA spokesman Wythe Keever said banning strikes would give school boards the advantage when negotiating teacher contracts.
"It's in the interest of all Pennsylvanians to have adequately paid, fairly paid teachers," Keever said.
Rock's bill would ban strikes and settle contract disputes through a process involving public disclosure of contract proposals, non-binding arbitrations and regular town hall meetings.
Rep. Bob Bastion, R-Somerset, has introduced companion legislation that would put language banning strikes in the state constitution.
Senate Minority Leader Robert Mellow, D-Lackawanna, has sponsored a bill that would ban strikes but calls for a different process for settling disputes.
Mellow's plan would require both sides to submit their last best offer to a county Common Pleas judge, who would pick one of the two plans.
Teacher strikes this year in Pa.
- Tuscarora School District, Franklin County. Teachers due back today after striking last week.
- Souderton Area School District, Montgomery County. Teachers still on strike.
- Duquesne City School District, Allegheny County. Teachers back at work after striking last week.
The teacher sucks!
Just like Labor Day is followed by opening day at the education emporium, the plaintive cry of "the teacher sucks!" is soon to be heard. It's usually after the first quiz or test is provided to the student and is spawned by a grade lower than expected.
Just like everywhere else, there are good teachers and bad, as well as good and bad parents, and good and bad school board members. Sometimes "good" and "bad" are a matter of incontrovertible fact; sometimes they're a matter of perspective.
"The cop gave me a ticket!" Yeah, sometimes you're on the losing side of that speed trap argument, and sometimes you're pedal-to-the-metal bat-out-of-hell speeding too.
"The boss gave me a bad review!" Yeah, sometimes personalities just don't mix and even Mother Theresa would be rated as needing to work on her people skills, and sometimes a quiet introspective moment would reveal that, yeah, you're not doing it right.
The comic strip Frazz reminds us this morning that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it's darkest before the dawn, and education is the responsibility of the RECEIVER to obtain the education they need.
Channeling our intrepid lyric quoters for a moment, think about this snip from "Nothing", part of the "A Chorus Line" soundtrack. It's OK to say "the teacher sucks". Maybe they do. Would someone looking in from the outside say "the student sucks!"?
And Karp kept saying,
"Morales, I think you should transfer to Girl's High,
You'll never be an actress, Never!" Jesus Christ!
Went to church, praying, "Santa Maria,
Send me guidance, send me guidance,"
On my knees.
Went to church, praying, "Santa Maria,
Help me feel it, help me feel it.
Pretty please!"
And a voice from down at the bottom of my soul
Came up to the top of my head.
And the voice from down at the bottom of my soul,
Here is what it said:
"This man is nothing!
This course is nothing!
If you want something,
Go find another class.
And when you find one
You'll be an actress."
And I assure you that's what
Fin'lly came to pass.
It's a two way street, between the educator and the student and both of them need to be doing their part.
Just like everywhere else, there are good teachers and bad, as well as good and bad parents, and good and bad school board members. Sometimes "good" and "bad" are a matter of incontrovertible fact; sometimes they're a matter of perspective.
"The cop gave me a ticket!" Yeah, sometimes you're on the losing side of that speed trap argument, and sometimes you're pedal-to-the-metal bat-out-of-hell speeding too.
"The boss gave me a bad review!" Yeah, sometimes personalities just don't mix and even Mother Theresa would be rated as needing to work on her people skills, and sometimes a quiet introspective moment would reveal that, yeah, you're not doing it right.
The comic strip Frazz reminds us this morning that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it's darkest before the dawn, and education is the responsibility of the RECEIVER to obtain the education they need.
Channeling our intrepid lyric quoters for a moment, think about this snip from "Nothing", part of the "A Chorus Line" soundtrack. It's OK to say "the teacher sucks". Maybe they do. Would someone looking in from the outside say "the student sucks!"?
And Karp kept saying,
"Morales, I think you should transfer to Girl's High,
You'll never be an actress, Never!" Jesus Christ!
Went to church, praying, "Santa Maria,
Send me guidance, send me guidance,"
On my knees.
Went to church, praying, "Santa Maria,
Help me feel it, help me feel it.
Pretty please!"
And a voice from down at the bottom of my soul
Came up to the top of my head.
And the voice from down at the bottom of my soul,
Here is what it said:
"This man is nothing!
This course is nothing!
If you want something,
Go find another class.
And when you find one
You'll be an actress."
And I assure you that's what
Fin'lly came to pass.
It's a two way street, between the educator and the student and both of them need to be doing their part.
PSBE Seats Two Students
Meet the new members of the state board of education: two students.
High School Students to Advise State Board of Education
Last update: 1:00 p.m. EDT Sept. 8, 2008
HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept 08, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Two Pennsylvania high school students have been selected to advise the State Board of Education by serving a one-year term as non-voting student representatives.
"We are thrilled about having real student voices on the State Board of Education," Education Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak said. "The board's decisions have direct implications on students across the commonwealth; therefore it makes perfect sense to have representation from these young people."
The addition of student representatives to the board is a historic step for Pennsylvania. The students will serve as diplomats from the student community, gathering concerns from students across the state and sharing them with the board.
Elizabeth Williams, a senior from Pocono Mountain West High School, who is active in student government, was selected to serve as the high school student member. Additionally, Gardiner Kreglow, a junior from Bethlehem Area School District, will serve as the high school student member-elect. Kreglow will shadow Williams, with plans to be her successor next year.
"This is a tremendous opportunity for the students to impact the policies that directly affect what happens in their classrooms and those of their fellow classmates," State Board of Education Chairman Joseph Torsella said. "I have no doubt that their participation will add valuable perspective to the board's deliberations and the views of the other board members."
The student representatives' first meeting will be at the State Board of Education's Sept. 17 meeting. The representatives were selected from a pool of nearly 50 applicants. Additionally, the board is in the process of appointing a college student member and college student member-elect to the board. The announcement of these candidates will be made in the fall.
This opportunity was made possible through a grant provided by the National Association of State Boards of Education and funded by the MetLife Foundation.
High School Students to Advise State Board of Education
Last update: 1:00 p.m. EDT Sept. 8, 2008
HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept 08, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Two Pennsylvania high school students have been selected to advise the State Board of Education by serving a one-year term as non-voting student representatives.
"We are thrilled about having real student voices on the State Board of Education," Education Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak said. "The board's decisions have direct implications on students across the commonwealth; therefore it makes perfect sense to have representation from these young people."
The addition of student representatives to the board is a historic step for Pennsylvania. The students will serve as diplomats from the student community, gathering concerns from students across the state and sharing them with the board.
Elizabeth Williams, a senior from Pocono Mountain West High School, who is active in student government, was selected to serve as the high school student member. Additionally, Gardiner Kreglow, a junior from Bethlehem Area School District, will serve as the high school student member-elect. Kreglow will shadow Williams, with plans to be her successor next year.
"This is a tremendous opportunity for the students to impact the policies that directly affect what happens in their classrooms and those of their fellow classmates," State Board of Education Chairman Joseph Torsella said. "I have no doubt that their participation will add valuable perspective to the board's deliberations and the views of the other board members."
The student representatives' first meeting will be at the State Board of Education's Sept. 17 meeting. The representatives were selected from a pool of nearly 50 applicants. Additionally, the board is in the process of appointing a college student member and college student member-elect to the board. The announcement of these candidates will be made in the fall.
This opportunity was made possible through a grant provided by the National Association of State Boards of Education and funded by the MetLife Foundation.
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